Genre
English fiction, Nineteenth Century Fiction, Anglo-Irish fiction.
Setting and Context
Castle Rackrent in the 1800s, in a small town in Ireland after the death of Sir Patrick O'Shaughlin
Narrator and Point of View
The narrator is Thady Quirk, the steward of Rackrent Castle, who tells the story from his own viewpoint.
Tone and Mood
The tone is relatively entertaining and observational. The mood is increasingly frustrated and worried.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Thady is the protagonist of the novel and every incumbent aristocrat owner of the castle is his antagonist.
Major Conflict
There is conflict between Sir Kit and his bride over her religion and its demands and also over the way in which her wishes are ridden roughshod over by the staff of the house.
Climax
The novel ends more in an anti-climax than a climax as the narrator calmly explains what happened to all the main characters in it, rather than there being a big event that turned the narrative or the plot around in any way.
Foreshadowing
When her wishes are not adhered to, Sir Kit's bride withdraws her financial support for her husband or for the castle which foreshadows his having to mortgage it to the hilt.
Understatement
The characters, although often described as "skinflints" or as "profligate" are never actually said to be as uniformly hopeless with money as their actions suggest.
Allusions
The entire novel alludes to the controversial Act of Union in the conversations that the characters have with each other and also in the way the author writes about the Irish and their right to be equal with the English.
Imagery
The Castle is described throughout the novel but in increasingly obvious states of disrepair. This enables the reader not only to read Thady's observations about the decline in its fortunes but also to picture them for ourselves.
Paradox
Isabella defies her father and marries Sir Condy because she believes she has a right to do what she wants and because she believes he has money and means of his own. All her father really needed to do to persuade her to give up the union with him was to bide his time because once Isabella realizes that he has no means of his own and that he is facing financial ruin she leaves him anyway and returns home to her father, agreeing to all of his demands.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between each of the family members that takes over Castle Rackrent in that none of them are capable of financially managing the family estate.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The Castle is the way in which the household of the castle and its individual residents are described.
Personification
N/A
