Becoming an Englishwoman
By focusing on the adolescent diaries of Elizabeth (Betsey) Wynne between her arrival in Switzerland in 1791, aged thirteen, and her departure from Ratisbon (Regensburg) in 1796, aged eighteen, this chapter explores the development of a precocious, cosmopolitan European girl into an ardent Englishwoman. It argues for both the continued social utility of politeness into the end of the eighteenth century. and beyond, and illuminates the crucial role that politeness played at three levels: in individual self-fashioning; in the provision of a model for, and through which, gendered identities could be expressed and interpreted; and, by extension, in the development of a set of character traits which could be used to define national identity. In this it draws upon Paul Langford’s work, not only in A Polite and Commercial People, but also in his later work, Englishness Identified. Finally, Betsey’s story reminds us that the French Revolution was a lived experience, one that irrevocably shaped the lives and characters of the generation that went on to shape nineteenth-century Europe. If for no other reason, the place of politeness in shaping those identities deserves wider attention.