According to Esther Wohlgemut, in Edgeworth's novel, "foreignness is not so much a political classification as a psychological relationship" that can lead to emotional excesses like ennui.[17] She argues that while Glenthorn ultimately visits Ireland, he remains foreign to that place; even though his parents are Irish, he has an essentially English identity prior to the reveal.[17] Critics generally understand the novel as a commentary on the formation of the British–Irish union, a union which Edgeworth had conflicting opinions on.[18] The novel is understood by critic Deborah Weiss as a commentary on class, though she understands Edgeworth's writing as not anti-aristocratic; for Weiss, Edgeworth's essential point is that all social classes can improve.[19]
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