Reflections on the Revolution in France is a political pamphlet, written originally as a letter that Burke intended to send to "a Gentleman in Paris." Because of this format, Reflections shares certain elements in common with the epistolary genre, which contains both fictional and non-fictional works. Reflections on the Revolution in France technically only consists of one letter comprising Burke's political essay, whereas epistolary literature typically consists of multiple letters, documenting a conversation between two or more individuals on an important topic. Burke chooses not to include multiple letters in his essay—which would have made it more of a "true" epistolary work—but rather alludes to previous letters and situates himself within an ongoing discourse that will lead to future letters and political pamphlets in response.
In a meta-textual sense, Burke is one piece of an epistolary discourse, which includes the many political pamphlets his opponents in England published to critique the ideas put forth in Reflections on the Revolution in France. Most notably, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley published A Vindication of the Rights of Men in 1790, an essay criticizing the concept of hereditary right as well as Burke's personal sympathy for and portrayal of Marie Antoinette. Thomas Paine also participated in this "pamphlet war," publishing the essay "Rights of Man" in 1791.
