That Kind Urbanity of Manner

Author(s):  
Coll Thrush

This chapter analyzes how London became a place driven by ritual. As scholars of the early nineteenth century have noted, British society experienced a social revolution in which an ever more formal culture “acquired taboos, introduced strict rules of propriety, and became reticent about sex and the emotions revolting from the customs of their elders.” The word most often used to describe this new reality was “manners.” Simultaneously lauded and lambasted by authors from Jane Austen to Charles Dickens, ritual, in the form of manners, comportment, sentiment, and protocol, began to transform Georgian values into what would eventually come to be known as Victorian culture.

2011 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Adrian J. Wallbank

Adrian J. Wallbank, "Literary Experimentation in Rowland Hill's Village Dialogues: Transcending 'Critical Attitudes' in the Face of Societal Ruination" (pp. 1–36) In the aftermath of the French "Revolution Controversy," middle-class evangelical writers made a concerted effort to rehabilitate the moral fabric of British society. Hannah More's Cheap Repository Tracts (1795–98) are recognized as pivotal within this program, but in this essay I question whether they were really as influential as has been supposed. I argue that autobiographical evidence from the period demonstrates an increasing skepticism toward overt didacticism, and that despite their significant and undeniable penetration within working-class culture, the Cheap Repository Tracts, if not all "received ideologies," were increasingly being rejected by their readers. This essay examines the important contribution that Rowland Hill's Village Dialogues (1801) made to this arena. Hill, like many of his contemporaries, felt that British society was facing ruination, but he also recognized that overt moralizing and didacticism was no longer palatable or effective. I argue that Hill thus experimented with an array of literary techniques—many of which closely intersect with developments occurring within the novel and sometimes appear to contradict or undermine the avowed seriousness of evangelicalism—that not only attempt to circumvent what Jonathan Rose has described as the "critical attitudes" of early-nineteenth-century readers, but also effectively map the "transitional" nature of the shifting literary and social terrains of the period. In so doing, Hill contributed signally to the evolution of the dialogue form (which is often synonymous with mentoring and didacticism), since his use of conversational mimesis and satire predated the colloquialism of John Wilson's Noctes Ambrosianae (1822–35) and Walter Savage Landor's Imaginary Conversations (1824–29).


2000 ◽  
Vol 93 (8) ◽  
pp. 670-679
Author(s):  
S. I. B. Gray

THE ACADEMY AWARD–WINNING MOVIE Sense and Sensibility presented a wonderful vision of life in early nineteenth-century England. In the absence of television, radio, movies, and videos, families sought entertainment in a manner far different from today's. The Dashwood girls—Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret—filled their days with visiting, reading, practicing the pianoforte, needleworking, and letter writing, not to mention gossiping and matchmaking. Long days were highlighted by a wonderfully relaxed midday family meal, during which conversation was paramount. Above all, Jane Austen portrays a concern for the thoughts and feelings of one's immediate acquaintances and pride in one's village.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 100-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Pooley

This paper argues that although it is now possible to travel more quickly and easily than ever before, transport-related social exclusion is more likely than it was in the past. Using evidence drawn from life writing and oral testimonies I examine the ways in which people accessed everyday transport over the past two centuries. In the early nineteenth century mobility options were limited and most people travelled in similar ways, though the rich always had access to the fastest and most comfortable transportation. From the mid-nineteenth century the railways provided fast travel for most people. Progressively, in the twentieth century British society became car dependent so that those without access to a car were disadvantaged. Such transport-related social exclusion was exacerbated by the denuding of public transport, and by heightened expectations for mobility which often could not be achieved. It is argued that a return to a less differentiated mobility system could increase transport-related social inclusion.


1962 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-208
Author(s):  
Robert Eric Frykenberg

That a similarity underlay local diversities of British society in India during the early 19th century is shown by Bernard S. Cohn's description of the British in Benares. A century ago, George F. Atkinson, in his Curry and Rice, observed:Let me remind you that, while there are numerous races, each with a different creed, caste, and language, so there are customs and manners peculiar to each: and this variety is not confined to the natives; for the habits and customs of social life among the English in India likewise present their petty diversities; and the “Qui Hye” of Bengal, the “Mull” of Madras, and the “Duck” of Bombay, adhere to and defend their own customs with jealous warmth of feeling … but there are [some ways of life] such as are common to the whole of India.


1983 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Philip Miller

The career of Humphry Davy (1778–1829) is one of the fairy tales of early nineteenth-century British science. His rise from obscure Cornish origins to world-wide eminence as a chemical discoverer, to popular celebrity amongst London's scientific audiences, to a knighthood from the Prince Regent, and finally to the Presidency of the Royal Society, provide apposite material for Smilesian accounts of British society as open to talents. But the use of Davy's career to illustrate the thesis that ‘genius will out’ is not without its problems. As Davy began to reap the benefits of his early chemical discoveries, and to acquire status and wealth, his dedication to research waned. The ‘new’ Davy who emerged in the years after Waterloo, though admired by many sections of the metropolitan scientific community, was also widely criticized. Ambivalence became marked with Davy's election to, and conduct in, the Presidency of the Royal Society.


2004 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Major

In the wake of the immolation of Roop Kanwar in Deorala, Rajasthan, in 1987, sati has re-emerged as a controversial political and social issue in modern India. Many of the terms of the contemporary debate on sati have their roots in the colonial period and are based on assumptions and ideas formulated during the British debate on sati in the early nineteenth century. These ideas were often as much the product of changing British society and its preoccupations as they were the encounter with India, however. This article explores the connotations of changing attitudes to suicide in influencing the nature of British responses to sati. By examining the relationship between attitudes to suicide and changing depictions of sati between 1500–1830, it seeks to undermine the suggestion of a constant western “morality” with regard to sati, depicting instead an encounter with the rite that was bi-directional and fluid with the dichotomy between “East” and “West” cross-cut by a myriad of other issues and concerns.


Author(s):  
Andrew Franta

This essay considers the Hampshire Chronicle, and the provincial newspaper in general, as a context for reading Austen. If the provincial newspaper would appear to afford a sharper framework for the historical interpretation of Austen’s novels, the Hampshire Chronicle and the history of the provincial press instead raise larger questions about the constitution of ‘the local’ in the early nineteenth century and suggest a different basis for understanding the significance of Austen’s focus on everyday life.


2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 299-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans-JüRgen Lechtreck

Two early nineteenth century texts treating the production and use of wax models of fruit reveal the history of these objects in the context of courtly decoration. Both sources emphasise the models' decorative qualities and their suitability for display, properties which were not simply by-products of the realism that the use of wax allowed. Thus, such models were not regarded merely as visual aids for educational purposes. The artists who created them sought to entice collectors of art and natural history objects, as well as teachers and scientists. Wax models of fruits are known to have been collected and displayed as early as the seventeenth century, although only one such collection is extant. Before the early nineteenth century models of fruits made from wax or other materials (glass, marble, faience) were considered worthy of display because contemporaries attached great importance to mastery of the cultivation and grafting of fruit trees. This skill could only be demonstrated by actually showing the fruits themselves. Therefore, wax models made before the early nineteenth century may also be regarded as attempts to preserve natural products beyond the point of decay.


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