Corbett explores fictional and nonfictional representations of Ireland's relationship with England throughout the nineteenth century. She considers the uses of familial and domestic metaphors in structuring narratives that enact the ''union'' of England and Ireland. Corbett situates her readings of novels by Edgeworth, Gaskell, and Trollope, and writings by Burke, Engels, and Mill, within the varying historical contexts that shape them. She revises the critical orthodoxies surrounding colonial discourse that currently prevail in Irish and English studies, and offers a fresh perspective on important aspects of Victorian culture.