Love in Excess (Broadview Literary Text)

A great book from 18th entry literature.

Number 17 of 1001 Books you must read before you die. Eliza Haywood's book was one of the most popular novels in its day, competing with Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. It tells the story of Count D'Elmont and his quest for romantic and fulfilling love. On his way he ravishes one woman, whom he mistakenly thinks is writing him love letters, marries the woman who was writing him the letters, but whom one he doesn't love, and falls in love with his ward. He attempts to seduce the ward and ends up causing jealousy in his wife who dies as a result of a bed room mix up. He rejects others, one because she is too forceful and obvious in her passion for him and he finds it a turn off, and another who while loving him discreetly from afar is no competition for his ward. Eventually through a series of adventures he is reunited with his true love. While Eliza Haywood was a successful writer in her time she was also frowned upon for writing of the true nature of women's feelings and desires, which then were supposed to be suppressed and only expressed when a man expressed his first. In this book it is only the women who follow this rule that are successful in love, so while considered risqué at the time the book really could be seen as a manual for proper feminine etiquette in the 18th century. I disliked how D'Elmont as the hero was able to get away with his poor treatment of his first love and his wife and even his unsuccessful and downright devious attempts at seduction of his ward and still come out a triumphant in his love.

an early example of a romance novel with the women being taken advantage of and men not being shown in a good light

So laments out one of Eliza's Haywood's love-crazed heroines in LOVE IN EXCESS.Don't read this book unless you can enter fully into the amatory spirit of the early eighteenth century! You'll be expected to shudder at the power of passion, tremble when a man tempts a virtuous woman - and sympathize with fainting fits, jealous ravings and the short fuses of duel-happy cavaliers.Eliza Haywood burst upon the London literary scene with LOVE IN EXCESS in 1719, the same year Defoe published ROBINSON CRUSOE. Both novels created a sensation.Haywood's plot centers around Count D'elmont, a young war hero whose great charm and personal beauty cause one woman after another to pursue him. He himself is immune to sentiment and marries purely for money. Too late, he encounters a young woman who makes him burn with love.Various other ladies and gentlemen in the Count's circle fall prey to love and furnish the reader with heart-pounding adventures. Shocking things happen, including murders, suicides, abductions and betrayals of trust.Haywood maintains that her characters can't be blamed for their excesses. Love is a misfortune like poverty or sickness and "absolutely controls the will."I was inspired to re-read Haywood's first novel after finishing her last novel, THE HISTORY OF JEMMY AND JENNY JESSAMY. Reading these books in succession is fascinating, because Haywood does a complete turnaround between 1719 and 1753. Her hot-blooded lovers give way to calm and utterly rational lovers. Haywood wrote for a living and had to update her product to satisfy the changing literary marketplace.LOVE IN EXCESS is a must-read for fans of Eliza Haywood. Others, of course, might find it excessive.I definitely recommend the Broadview edition. I loved the lively introduction, with its infectious enthusiasm and deep scholarship.

I enjoyed this early work of 'amatory' fiction. It has all the elements of a present day soap opera. A fun read that has much to say about relationships as perceived in the eighteenth century.

It's a shame that Richardson gets credit for being the first novelist--Haywood wrote "Love in Excess" twenty years prior to "Pamela"!!! And frankly, I think "Love in Excess" is not only a much better novel in terms of its craft and general use of language, it is also much more entertaining--which was the aim of many early novels anyway."Love in Excess" is a bawdy, surprisingly complex romp. What you have, I think, are morally ambiguous characters; some are just flat-out amoral; and the fun and playful thing about EH is that she treats her characters as consistent, moral creatures, yet they are far from it. Indeed, for those that read EH as simply a romance writer, they're missing out on a wealth of sarcasm, satire, and humor. EH knew she was creating despicable people; she wanted to point out the absurdities of courtly love; and by writing in a tone that is seemingly serious, she is also testing her audience. Even though this was the first novel, Haywood understood how to write both to the masses and to her peers. In other words, "Love in Excess" is multi-functional and sets a standard for those like Richardson to follow--who, hypocritically, I'd imagine, would deny her influence and dismiss her talents because of her gender. It's wild that Haywood is hardly known: she's a master writer, a brilliant social commentator, and in possession of a tremendous analytical mind. I admire her very much.

This book was an utter waste of time. Not only is it the most awful piece of literature I have read, the story is completely redundant in each of the books contained in the novel. Pope and others were on to something when they criticized her writing. Haywood should have stuck to short stories.

Its an ok novel. Wasn't really my taste, but a good read.

The book itself, is actually quite good, if you can survive 18th century English and printing style (some letters are a little distorted in comparison to what we are normally used to nowadays - for example, half the 's'' look like 'f's).However, this precise copy of the book is in fact only about the first third of the actual novel. I ended up having to download the rest onto my computer because I needed it for a class and didn't realize until we started discussing it that I had only read a tiny portion of the book. So be advised when purchasing.

Although I find both Eliza Haywood's writing style and early Eighteenth Century use of the English Language fascinating, I'm afraid I cannot say the same about the content of 'Love in Excess', which I find tediously snail-paced. Whilst some readers will not mind this, others, like me, will be put off by it, which is why I think it only fair to mention it.'Love in Excess' will be of value to those who are interested in the development of the English novel and it also shows how Jane Austen's style is in the way of being an offshoot in the evolution of the novel rather than being in the mainstream of novel evolution. Off shoots, of course, are very important. They lead to variety and cater for different tastes. The fascinating thing is, you can see how Elixa Haywood's style has evolved into a variety of styles. Bits of the way she did things can be seen in the works of future authors.So, if you are interested in the evolution of the novel, then you will probably find this work valuable. However, those hoping for a 'great read' may very well find it hard going.

Love, desirable matches, a man who has all women swooning, well at least inside the book.Being admired and loved by the women, Count D'elmont's life changes when he receives anonymous letters.Follow the Count and his women through a maze of intrigues, 18th century morals and ambitions and a few surprises.While being interesting in the context of its time, the book easily seems boring, long and cliche to the modern reader.Looking a bit closer it is easy to see why the book was a best-seller in its own time, and a inspiring to later novels.To really like and get this book, a love for the old style of writing and story-telling is needed.

I was excited to read the entire book, but soon realized that what I had purchased was only the first part of three. For the price I was expecting all three parts.

I bought this as it was in one of those lists of 'books you must read'. There is much swooning and the verbose declarations of passion are alarming... but it is called Love In Excess after all. Apparently it is the first text in English to fully acknowledge that women can have sexual desire. So without this, no Mr Grey. But we can't blame Eliza for not knowing where it would all lead.This a nice enough edition, good quality paper,with enough editing to make it easily read, but enough of the original for us to feel the gap in history that we are spanning. Footnotes are given at the foot of each page, and are simple.