Weekly workshop preparation
Lecture handouts and workshop handouts are attached at the end of each week's reading lists. Please download and print them out. Use them to structure your notes.
You must prepare for the seminars in advance by completing the following tasks. Assessed tasks are marked with an *.
You must prepare for the seminars in advance by completing the following tasks. Assessed tasks are marked with an *.
WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE LONG EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
This week is a general introduction to the eighteenth century through the eyes of William Hogarth.
Learning objectives:
- understanding the term 'the long eighteenth century'
- beginning an understanding of the eighteenth-century political system
- developing an understanding of eighteenth-century culture
Preparation to do before the seminar:
* a) Read and make notes on the introduction (attached below) and skim read through a couple of chapters of Frank O’Gorman, The Long Eighteenth Century, 1688-1832.
- Why do many historians term this period the ‘long eighteenth century’?
- How have historians described the politics of this period? Who held power? How did the political system work?
- Highlight some of the key dates of the century.
b) Also, have a look at John Brewer, The Pleasures of the Imagination (a few pages attached below).
- What was culture in the long eighteenth century?
- what do the paintings show about eighteenth-century society?
Tasks in the seminar:
Analyse the following series of paintings by William Hogarth. What do they tell the historian about eighteenth century society and concerns?
Link to the paintings on the Sir John Soane's museum website.
I recommend that you pay a visit to this fascinating place in London and look at the paintings for real!
Learning objectives:
- understanding the term 'the long eighteenth century'
- beginning an understanding of the eighteenth-century political system
- developing an understanding of eighteenth-century culture
Preparation to do before the seminar:
* a) Read and make notes on the introduction (attached below) and skim read through a couple of chapters of Frank O’Gorman, The Long Eighteenth Century, 1688-1832.
- Why do many historians term this period the ‘long eighteenth century’?
- How have historians described the politics of this period? Who held power? How did the political system work?
- Highlight some of the key dates of the century.
b) Also, have a look at John Brewer, The Pleasures of the Imagination (a few pages attached below).
- What was culture in the long eighteenth century?
- what do the paintings show about eighteenth-century society?
Tasks in the seminar:
Analyse the following series of paintings by William Hogarth. What do they tell the historian about eighteenth century society and concerns?
- The Rake’s Progress (1734)
- Beer Street and Gin Lane (1751)
Link to the paintings on the Sir John Soane's museum website.
I recommend that you pay a visit to this fascinating place in London and look at the paintings for real!
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WEEK 2: THE LONG EIGHTEENTH CENTURY: HISTORIANS' OVERVIEWS
In this week’s workshop we’ll discuss historiography
(or rather what it means, why it matters and how we go about studying it). How
do historians characterise eighteenth-century Britain?
Learning objectives:
- developing knowledge of the historiography of the long eighteenth century
- developing skills in how to find historiography and describe it
- developing skills in speed-reading and synthesis of arguments
Seminar preparation:
1. Read this review article: Joanna Innes, ‘Jonathan Clark, social history and England's "ancien regime"', Past & Present, 115 (1987), 165-200.
In this article, Joanna Innes criticises J. C. D. Clark’s book, English Society, 1688-1832.
- List her criticisms of Clark's book and bring your list to the seminar
- consider how justified her criticisms might be. extra
2. Please select one of the recommended readings listed below.
If you can’t get a hard copy, then www.google.co.uk/books is a useful temporary substitute.
Suggested Reading Strategies: BROWSE and flip through: don’t get bogged down in detail! Read what you find interesting. Highlight the main themes of the chapters, and the main overall focus of the books. Search e-journals for historiographical reviews of the books.
Assessed task: * Consider the following questions.
Seminar tasks:
We will be doing a 'speed-historiography' session in the seminar, spending 5 minutes on each book to develop your speed-reading and historiography skills.
- look at the cover - the clue is always in the title! (and often the picture). What chronology does the book use, and why?
- when was the book published? why is this important?
- look at the list of chapters - what topics do they cover?
- look at a list of key events if included? what do they prioritise?
- read the preface or introduction. Highlight where the author says something along the lines of 'the eighteenth century was...'; 'these historians argue this, but I show that...'
- look at the bibliography - what evidence and sources does the author use?
_
Learning objectives:
- developing knowledge of the historiography of the long eighteenth century
- developing skills in how to find historiography and describe it
- developing skills in speed-reading and synthesis of arguments
Seminar preparation:
1. Read this review article: Joanna Innes, ‘Jonathan Clark, social history and England's "ancien regime"', Past & Present, 115 (1987), 165-200.
In this article, Joanna Innes criticises J. C. D. Clark’s book, English Society, 1688-1832.
- List her criticisms of Clark's book and bring your list to the seminar
- consider how justified her criticisms might be. extra
2. Please select one of the recommended readings listed below.
If you can’t get a hard copy, then www.google.co.uk/books is a useful temporary substitute.
Suggested Reading Strategies: BROWSE and flip through: don’t get bogged down in detail! Read what you find interesting. Highlight the main themes of the chapters, and the main overall focus of the books. Search e-journals for historiographical reviews of the books.
- · Paul Langford, A Polite and Commercial People: England 1727-1783 (Oxford, 1989);
- · Roy Porter, English Society in the Eighteenth Century (Harmondsworth, 1982);
- · Douglas Hay and Nicholas Rogers, Eighteenth-century English Society: Shuttles and Swords (Oxford, 1997); [I have scanned some pages for you below, filename 'shuttle']
- · Linda Colley, Britons: Forging the Nation 1707-1837 (London, 1992);
- · E. P. Thompson, The Making of the English Working Class (Harmondsworth, 1968)
- · J.C.D. Clark, English Society, 1688-1832 (Cambridge, 1985)
Assessed task: * Consider the following questions.
- What picture of 18th-century Britain do you find in Langford/Colley/Porter/Rogers/Thompson/Clark? (It’s fine to be impressionistic at this point).
- What themes seem important? Who held power in eighteenth-century Britain?
- Was Britain changing in this period?
- How important is religion in these overviews of the eighteenth century?
- Which social groups were involved in politics? What forms might politics take in the period?
- What types of evidence or examples are used?
Seminar tasks:
We will be doing a 'speed-historiography' session in the seminar, spending 5 minutes on each book to develop your speed-reading and historiography skills.
- look at the cover - the clue is always in the title! (and often the picture). What chronology does the book use, and why?
- when was the book published? why is this important?
- look at the list of chapters - what topics do they cover?
- look at a list of key events if included? what do they prioritise?
- read the preface or introduction. Highlight where the author says something along the lines of 'the eighteenth century was...'; 'these historians argue this, but I show that...'
- look at the bibliography - what evidence and sources does the author use?
_
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WEEK 3: SOCIABILITY AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE
_ This week we will discuss one of the central features of eighteenth century society: the notion of sociability. This was epitomised in coffee house culture. We will also examine a key model used by historians to describe society in this period: the ‘public sphere’.
learning objectives:
- understanding the key terms of 18th century society: sociability, politeness, and the 'public sphere'
- considering the historiographical debate about gender in early 18th century public life
Seminar preparation:
1. Read: Steve Pincus, ‘“Coffee Politicians Does Create”: coffeehouses and Restoration political culture’, Journal of Modern History, 67 (1995), 807-34
AND
2. Brian Cowan, ‘What was masculine about the public sphere? Gender and the coffeehouse milieu in post-Restoration England’, History Workshop Journal, 51 (2001), 127-57.
Why are we studying this material? The Pincus article covers the early history of the coffee house and the reasons for its historical significance. His views on female participation have however been challenged (e.g. by Cowan).
* assessed task: How does Cowan disagree with Pincus?
Extra useful information! Listen to BBC Radio 4 In Our Time: Politeness: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p004y29m and/or
read this interview with Jurgen Habermas: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/eda3bcd8-5327-11df-813e-00144feab49a.html#axzz27m5hOedj
Brian Cowan, 'Mr Spectator and the Coffee House Public Sphere', Eighteenth-Century Studies, 37: 3 (2004), 345-366
Seminar tasks:
Think about the following questions in order to prepare for seminar discussion:
Ø define the terms: ‘sociability,’ ‘politeness’
Ø What do historians mean by the term public sphere?
Ø What went on at the coffee house and why does its history matter?
Ø What other activities/social priorities contributed to the public sphere?
Ø What evidence is there in your secondary reading of differences of opinion among historians about the history of the coffee house/public sphere?
Ø To what extent does the primary source material extend or challenge interpretations offered in the secondary sources?
We will be examining the language and purpose of this primary source: The Spectator, No. 49. Thursday, April 26, 1711. [extracts below]. For original go to Google Books
The Spectator, No. 49. Thursday, April 26, 1711. [extracts].
In the Place I must usually frequent, Men differ rather in the Time of Day in which they make a Figure, than in any real Greatness above one another. I, who am at the Coffee-house at Six in a Morning, know that my Friend Beaver the Haberdasher has a Levy of more undissembled Friends and Admirers, than most of the Courtiers or Generals of Great-Britain. Every Man about him has, perhaps, a News-Paper in his Hand; but none can pretend to guess what Step will be taken in any one Court of Europe, till Mr. Beaver has thrown down his Pipe, and declares what Measures the Allies must enter into upon this new Posture of Affairs. Our Coffee-house is near one of the Inns of Court, and Beaver has the Audience and Admiration of his Neighbours from Six 'till within a Quarter of Eight, at which time he is interrupted by the Students of the House; some of whom are ready dress'd for Westminster, at Eight in a Morning, with Faces as busie as if they were retained in every Cause there; and others come in their Night-Gowns to saunter away their Time, as if they never designed to go thither. .....
When the Day grows too busie for these Gentlemen to enjoy any longer the Pleasures of their Deshabilé, with any manner of Confidence, they give place to Men who have Business or good Sense in their Faces, and come to the Coffee-house either to transact Affairs or enjoy Conversation. The Persons to whose Behaviour and Discourse I have most regard, are such as are between these two sorts of Men: Such as have not Spirits too Active to be happy and well pleased in a private Condition, nor Complexions too warm to make them neglect the Duties and Relations of Life. Of these sort of Men consist the worthier Part of Mankind; of these are all good Fathers, generous Brothers, sincere Friends, and faithful Subjects. Their Entertainments are derived rather from Reason than Imagination: Which is the Cause that there is no Impatience or instability in their Speech or Action. You see in their Countenances they are at home, and in quiet Possession of the present Instant, as it passes, without desiring to quicken it by gratifying any Passion, or prosecuting any new Design. These are the Men formed for Society, and those little Communities which we express by the Word Neighborhoods.
The Coffee-house is the Place of Rendezvous to all that live near it, who are thus turned to relish calm and ordinary Life. Eubulus presides over the middle hours of the Day, when this Assembly of Men meet together. He enjoys a great Fortune handsomely, without launching into Expence; and exerts many noble and useful Qualities, without appearing in any publick Employment. His Wisdom and Knowledge are serviceable to all that think fit to make use of them; and he does the office of a Council, a Judge, an Executor, and a Friend to all his Acquaintance, not only without the Profits which attend such Offices, but also without the Deference and homage which are usually paid to them. The giving of Thanks is displeasing to him. The greatest Gratitude you can shew him is to let him see you are the better Man for his Services; and that you are as ready to oblige others, as he is to oblige you.
.... Eubulus has so great an Authority in his little Diurnal Audience, that when he shakes his Head at any Piece of publick News, they all of them appear dejected; and on the contrary, go home to their Dinners with a good Stomach and cheerful Aspect, when Eubulus seems to intimate that Things go well. Nay, their Veneration towards him is so great, that when they are in other Company they speak and act after him; are Wise in his Sentences, and are no sooner sat down at their own Tables, but they hope or fear, rejoice or despond as they saw him do at the Coffee-house. In a word, every Man is Eubulus as soon as his Back is turned.
Having here given an Account of the several Reigns that succeed each other from Day-break till Dinner-time, I shall mention the Monarchs of the Afternoon on another Occasion, and shut up the whole Series of them with the History of Tom the Tyrant; who, as first Minister of the Coffee-house, takes the Government upon him between the Hours of Eleven and Twelve at Night, and gives his Orders in the most Arbitrary manner to the Servants below him, as to the Disposition of Liquors, Coal and Cinders.
learning objectives:
- understanding the key terms of 18th century society: sociability, politeness, and the 'public sphere'
- considering the historiographical debate about gender in early 18th century public life
Seminar preparation:
1. Read: Steve Pincus, ‘“Coffee Politicians Does Create”: coffeehouses and Restoration political culture’, Journal of Modern History, 67 (1995), 807-34
AND
2. Brian Cowan, ‘What was masculine about the public sphere? Gender and the coffeehouse milieu in post-Restoration England’, History Workshop Journal, 51 (2001), 127-57.
Why are we studying this material? The Pincus article covers the early history of the coffee house and the reasons for its historical significance. His views on female participation have however been challenged (e.g. by Cowan).
* assessed task: How does Cowan disagree with Pincus?
Extra useful information! Listen to BBC Radio 4 In Our Time: Politeness: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p004y29m and/or
read this interview with Jurgen Habermas: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/eda3bcd8-5327-11df-813e-00144feab49a.html#axzz27m5hOedj
Brian Cowan, 'Mr Spectator and the Coffee House Public Sphere', Eighteenth-Century Studies, 37: 3 (2004), 345-366
Seminar tasks:
Think about the following questions in order to prepare for seminar discussion:
Ø define the terms: ‘sociability,’ ‘politeness’
Ø What do historians mean by the term public sphere?
Ø What went on at the coffee house and why does its history matter?
Ø What other activities/social priorities contributed to the public sphere?
Ø What evidence is there in your secondary reading of differences of opinion among historians about the history of the coffee house/public sphere?
Ø To what extent does the primary source material extend or challenge interpretations offered in the secondary sources?
We will be examining the language and purpose of this primary source: The Spectator, No. 49. Thursday, April 26, 1711. [extracts below]. For original go to Google Books
The Spectator, No. 49. Thursday, April 26, 1711. [extracts].
In the Place I must usually frequent, Men differ rather in the Time of Day in which they make a Figure, than in any real Greatness above one another. I, who am at the Coffee-house at Six in a Morning, know that my Friend Beaver the Haberdasher has a Levy of more undissembled Friends and Admirers, than most of the Courtiers or Generals of Great-Britain. Every Man about him has, perhaps, a News-Paper in his Hand; but none can pretend to guess what Step will be taken in any one Court of Europe, till Mr. Beaver has thrown down his Pipe, and declares what Measures the Allies must enter into upon this new Posture of Affairs. Our Coffee-house is near one of the Inns of Court, and Beaver has the Audience and Admiration of his Neighbours from Six 'till within a Quarter of Eight, at which time he is interrupted by the Students of the House; some of whom are ready dress'd for Westminster, at Eight in a Morning, with Faces as busie as if they were retained in every Cause there; and others come in their Night-Gowns to saunter away their Time, as if they never designed to go thither. .....
When the Day grows too busie for these Gentlemen to enjoy any longer the Pleasures of their Deshabilé, with any manner of Confidence, they give place to Men who have Business or good Sense in their Faces, and come to the Coffee-house either to transact Affairs or enjoy Conversation. The Persons to whose Behaviour and Discourse I have most regard, are such as are between these two sorts of Men: Such as have not Spirits too Active to be happy and well pleased in a private Condition, nor Complexions too warm to make them neglect the Duties and Relations of Life. Of these sort of Men consist the worthier Part of Mankind; of these are all good Fathers, generous Brothers, sincere Friends, and faithful Subjects. Their Entertainments are derived rather from Reason than Imagination: Which is the Cause that there is no Impatience or instability in their Speech or Action. You see in their Countenances they are at home, and in quiet Possession of the present Instant, as it passes, without desiring to quicken it by gratifying any Passion, or prosecuting any new Design. These are the Men formed for Society, and those little Communities which we express by the Word Neighborhoods.
The Coffee-house is the Place of Rendezvous to all that live near it, who are thus turned to relish calm and ordinary Life. Eubulus presides over the middle hours of the Day, when this Assembly of Men meet together. He enjoys a great Fortune handsomely, without launching into Expence; and exerts many noble and useful Qualities, without appearing in any publick Employment. His Wisdom and Knowledge are serviceable to all that think fit to make use of them; and he does the office of a Council, a Judge, an Executor, and a Friend to all his Acquaintance, not only without the Profits which attend such Offices, but also without the Deference and homage which are usually paid to them. The giving of Thanks is displeasing to him. The greatest Gratitude you can shew him is to let him see you are the better Man for his Services; and that you are as ready to oblige others, as he is to oblige you.
.... Eubulus has so great an Authority in his little Diurnal Audience, that when he shakes his Head at any Piece of publick News, they all of them appear dejected; and on the contrary, go home to their Dinners with a good Stomach and cheerful Aspect, when Eubulus seems to intimate that Things go well. Nay, their Veneration towards him is so great, that when they are in other Company they speak and act after him; are Wise in his Sentences, and are no sooner sat down at their own Tables, but they hope or fear, rejoice or despond as they saw him do at the Coffee-house. In a word, every Man is Eubulus as soon as his Back is turned.
Having here given an Account of the several Reigns that succeed each other from Day-break till Dinner-time, I shall mention the Monarchs of the Afternoon on another Occasion, and shut up the whole Series of them with the History of Tom the Tyrant; who, as first Minister of the Coffee-house, takes the Government upon him between the Hours of Eleven and Twelve at Night, and gives his Orders in the most Arbitrary manner to the Servants below him, as to the Disposition of Liquors, Coal and Cinders.
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WEEK 4: GULLIVER'S TRAVELS AND THE POLITICS OF CORRUPTION
This week we examine the period of the first 'prime minister' of Britain, Sir Robert Walpole. How have historians characterised his leadership, and the nature of government in the 1720s and 1730s? How did writers like Jonathan Swift and John Gay satirise the government? What can historians learn from studying the literature of this period?
Learning objectives:
- understanding the party politics of the 1720s and 30s
- awareness of the modes of political satire composed by the 'Scriblerians'
Preparation for the seminar:
Please read:
1. Begin reading an annotated edition of Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels. Read as much as you can. Try to work out the political allegories in the book.
[full text on http://www.jaffebros.com/lee/gulliver/ or www.gutenberg.org]
2. Ronald Paulson, ‘Putting out the fire in Her Imperial Majesty's apartment : opposition politics, anticlericalism, and aesthetics’, ELH 63:1 (1996) 79-107
Don't get bogged down in the literary analysis - think about which publications and types of culture were used to critique politicians and the government.
Further reading about Swift and the Scriblerians listed below will help you too.
Seminar task:
Work out the allegory in Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels (1726), Book III [A Voyage to Laputa], chapters 6 to 8. We will also be watching some extracts from books I and II in a video during the workshop. Notes are in the lecture notes below.
Write up task: * Identify what Swift is satirising about how politics operated and how power was distributed in early eighteenth century British society.
Suggested further reading:
Short online lectures about the Robinocracy and the Scriblerians:
Part I: http://screencast.com/t/Bs0K75zT
Part II: http://screencast.com/t/hKguDIPw
Part III: http://screencast.com/t/TcAVkdD1xg
- I have scanned some pages from Downie and Knowles's studies of Gulliver's Travels on studynet
Learning objectives:
- understanding the party politics of the 1720s and 30s
- awareness of the modes of political satire composed by the 'Scriblerians'
Preparation for the seminar:
Please read:
1. Begin reading an annotated edition of Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels. Read as much as you can. Try to work out the political allegories in the book.
[full text on http://www.jaffebros.com/lee/gulliver/ or www.gutenberg.org]
2. Ronald Paulson, ‘Putting out the fire in Her Imperial Majesty's apartment : opposition politics, anticlericalism, and aesthetics’, ELH 63:1 (1996) 79-107
Don't get bogged down in the literary analysis - think about which publications and types of culture were used to critique politicians and the government.
Further reading about Swift and the Scriblerians listed below will help you too.
Seminar task:
Work out the allegory in Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels (1726), Book III [A Voyage to Laputa], chapters 6 to 8. We will also be watching some extracts from books I and II in a video during the workshop. Notes are in the lecture notes below.
Write up task: * Identify what Swift is satirising about how politics operated and how power was distributed in early eighteenth century British society.
Suggested further reading:
Short online lectures about the Robinocracy and the Scriblerians:
Part I: http://screencast.com/t/Bs0K75zT
Part II: http://screencast.com/t/hKguDIPw
Part III: http://screencast.com/t/TcAVkdD1xg
- I have scanned some pages from Downie and Knowles's studies of Gulliver's Travels on studynet
- Gerrard, C., The Patriot Opposition to Walpole: Politics, Poetry and National Myth (1994)
- Goldgar, B., Walpole and the Wits: the Relation of Politics to Literature, 1722-42 (1973)
- Nicholson, C., Writing and the Rise of Finance: Capital Satires of the Early Eighteenth Century (1994), chapters ‘The Strange Case of Gulliver’s Travels,’ and ‘The Beggar’s Opera.’
- Philip Harling, 'The Georgian political firmament', Journal of British Studies, 37.1 (Jan. 1998), 91-98 [review article]
- Wilson, Kathleen, 'Inventing Revolution: 1688 and Eighteenth-Century Popular Politics', Journal of British Studies, 28:4 (1989), 349-86. [review article]
- F. P. Lock, Swift’s Tory Politics (1983) or,
- F. P. Lock, The Politics of Gulliver’s Travels (1980)
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WEEK 5: GENDER AND SEPARATE SPHERES
_ This week we will be examining the role of women in eighteenth century society, and considering also ideas about masculinity. This has been a hot topic among historians, especially around the concept of ‘separate spheres’.
learning objectives:
- understanding and critiquing the model of 'separate spheres'
- awareness of the historiography of gender in the eighteenth century
- skills in analysing primary sources written about and by 18th century women
Preparation for the seminar:
1. Please read at least the introduction and one chapter of:
- Leonora Davidoff and Catherine Hall, Family Fortunes: Men and Women of the English Middle Class, 1780-1850 (1987) (pdf below)
2. Read:
- Amanda Vickery, 'Golden age to separate spheres?: a review of the categories and chronology of English women's history', Historical Journal, 36 (1993), 383-414
- how does Vickery critique Davidoff and Hall?
- what does 'separate spheres' mean?
Seminar tasks:
Read the following sources – find out what they are, and how they might be used to shed light on eighteenth century women (and men):
a) Mary Astell, Some Reflections upon Marriage, 1700, preface:
If absolute sovereignty be not necessary in a state, how comes it to be so in a family? Or if in a family why not in a state; since no reason can be alleg’d for the one that will not hold more strongly for the other? If the authority of the husband so far as it extends, is sacred and inalienable, why not of the Prince? The domestic sovereign is without dispute elected, and the stipulations and contract is mutual, is it not then partial in men to the last degree, to contend for, and practice that arbitrary dominion in their own families, which they abhor and exclaim against in the state? For if arbitrary power is evil in itself, and an improper method of governing rational and free agents, it ought not to be practis’d anywhere; Nor is it less, but rather more mischievous in families than in families than in kingdoms, by how much 100,000 tyrants are worse than one….If all men are born free, how is it that all women are born slaves?
b) Mary Pilkington, A Mirror for the Female Sex, 1799, chapter ‘on the proper employment of time’ (from p.134) – link to google books
c) ‘Sophia’, from Beauty’s Triumph: or, the Superiority of the Fair Sex invincibly proved, 1751, part One, Woman not Inferior to Man, 1739:
It is too well known to be assembled, that the office of nursing children is held by the Men in a despicable light, as something low and degrading. Whereas, had they nature for their guide, they would not need to be told, that there is no employment in a common-wealth which deserves more honour, or greater thanks and rewards…Nay, I know not whether it may not appear to render Woman deserving of the first places in civil society.
…Men can absolutely dispense with princes, merchants, soldiers, lawyers, &c, as they did in the beginning of time, and as savages do still. But can they in their infancy do without nurses? And since they themselves are too awkward for that important office, are not Women indispensably wanted? In a peaceful orderly state, the major part of Men are useless in their office, with all their authority; but Women will never cease to be useful, while there are Men, and those Men have children.
…If princes and statesmen sometimes exalt themselves in the service of the public, ambition is their motive, and power, riches, or splendour, the point of view. But our more generous souls are bias’d only by the good we do to the children we breed and nurture: Daily experience reminding us, that all the gratification we can hope for from the unnatural creatures, for the almost infinite pains, anxieties, care and assiduities to which we subject ourselves on their account, and which cannot be matched in any other state of civil society, is an ungrateful treatment of our persons, and the basest contempt of our sex in general. Such the generous offices we do them: Such the ungenerous returns they make us!”
d) Catherine Macaulay, Letters on education, 1790, p.50, 201-2 –
“Confine not the education of your daughters to what is regarded as the ornamental parts of it, nor deny the graces to your sons. Suffer no prejudices to prevail on you to weaken Nature, in order to render her more beautiful; take measures for the virtue and the harmony of your family, by uniting their young minds early in the soft bounds of friendship. Let your children be brought up together; let their sports and studies be the same; let them enjoy, in the constant presence of those who are set over them, all that freedom which innocence renders harmless, and in which Nature rejoices.
…I have given similar rules for male and female education, on the following grounds of reasoning.
First, that there is but one rule of right for the conduct of all rational beings; consequently that true virtue in one sex must be equally so in the other, whenever a proper opportunity calls for its exertion; and, vice versa, what is vice in some sex, cannot have a different property when found in the other.
Secondly, that true wisdom, which is never found at variance with rectitude, is as useful to women as to men; because it is necessary to the highest degree of happiness, which can never exist with ignorance.
Lastly, that as on our first entrance into another world, our state of happiness may possibly depend on the degree of perfection we have attained in this, we cannot justly lessen, in one sex or the other, the means by which this perfection, that is another word for wisdom, is acquired.”
e) Thomas Gisborne, An Enquiry into the Duties of the Female Sex, 1797, pp.20-3
“The science of legislation, or jurisprudence, of political economy; the conduct of government in all its executive function; the abstruse researches of erudition; the inexhaustible depths of philosophy; the acquirements subordinate to navigation; the knowledge indispensable in the wide field of commercial enterprise; the arts of defence, and of attack by land and by sea, which the violence or the fraud of unprincipled assailants render needful; these, and other studies, pursuits and occupations, assigned chiefly or entirely to men, demand the efforts of a mind endued with the powers of close and comprehensive reasoning, and of intense and continued application, in a degree to which they are not requisite for the discharge of the customary offices of female duty.”
Further reading:
· H. Barker and E. Chalus (ed.), Women's History: Britain, 1700-1850: An introduction (2005)
· R. Shoemaker, Gender in English society, 1650-1850: the emergence of separate spheres? (1998)
· I. Tague, Women of Quality (2002), chapter ‘Ideals of Femininity’ describing conduct books and other views of women’s roles.
· Lawrence E. Klein, 'Gender and the public/private distinction in the eighteenth century: some questions about evidence and analytic procedure', Eighteenth-Century Studies, 29 (1995), 97-109
· M. McKeon, ‘Historicizing Patriarchy: The Emergence of Gender Difference in England, 1660-1760,’ Eighteenth Century Studies, 28:3 (1995)
· H. Barker-Benfield, Culture and Sensibility (1992)
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WEEK 6: THE ENLIGHTENMENT
This week we will discuss the Enlightenment in England and Scotland. How have historians characterised the Enlightenment? How did it differ from the European Enlightenment? What were its wider influences on British society?
learning objectives:
- gaining a broad overview of the Enlightenment and its historiography
- developing skills in analysing primary sources of the Enlightenment
Seminar Preparation:
TASK 1. Please read: Roy Porter, ‘Matrix of Modernity?’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 12 (2002), pp.245-59.
- How does Porter define modernity?
- What does Porter state is distinctive about the English Enlightenment?
Ø There is one profound problem with Porter’s published essay. What is it?
Ø Characterise the world-view shared by ‘enlightened’ people. Compile a list of key terms.
Ø What areas of social and individual life were touched by the Enlightenment?
Ø Where did the poor, women and the middling sort stand in relation to the Enlightenment?
2. Lectures:
Watch the short lecture online: http://screencast.com/t/NM8DZ9TbQzXa
Listen to and discuss: BBC Radio 4 In Our Time: the Scottish Enlightenment: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00548ln
Seminar tasks:
Task 3: Examine the CONTENTS and SUBJECTS of articles in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, vol 50, December 1757, or any other volume you choose. Available on http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/ilej/ and follow the links from ‘browse’.
Categorise the topics discussed by the Royal Society – what do they tell us about the nature of ‘enlightened’ enquiry in this period?
* assessed TASK 4. We will be discussing the following extracts from primary and secondary sources. Look them up and familiarise yourself with unfamiliar terms and concepts before the workshop. Discuss them on the discussion board/blog.
- ‘Absolute monarchies are but one step away from despotism. Despotism and Enlightenment: let anyone who can try to reconcile these two. I can’t.’
- ‘The natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on earth, and not to be under the will or legislative authority of man, but to have only the law of Nature for his rule. The liberty of man in society is to be under no other legislative power but that established by consent in the commonwealth...’
- ‘The Enlightenment should be viewed not as a canon of classics, but as a living language, a revolution in mood, a blaze of slogans, delivering the shock of the new.’
4. Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels (1726), Part III, chapters 5 and 6
The author permitted to see the grand academy of Lagado. The academy largely described. The arts wherein the professors employ themselves....A further account of the academy.
This academy is not an entire single building, but a continuation of several houses on both sides of a street, which growing waste, was purchased and applied to that use. I was received very kindly by the warden, and went for many days to the academy. Every room has in it one or more projectors; and I believe I could not be in fewer than five hundred rooms.
The first man I saw was of a meagre aspect, with sooty hands and face, his hair and beard long, ragged, and singed in several places. His clothes, shirt, and skin, were all of the same colour. He has been eight years upon a project for extracting sunbeams out of cucumbers, which were to be put in phials hermetically sealed, and let out to warm the air in raw inclement summers. He told me, he did not doubt, that, in eight years more, he should be able to supply the governor's gardens with sunshine, at a reasonable rate: but he complained that his stock was low, and entreated me "to give him something as an encouragement to ingenuity, especially since this had been a very dear season for cucumbers." I made him a small present, for my lord had furnished me with money on purpose, because he knew their practice of begging from all who go to see them.
...
"In the school of political projectors, I was but ill entertained; the professors appearing, in my judgment, wholly out of their senses, which is a scene that never fails to make me melancholy. These unhappy people were proposing schemes for persuading monarchs to choose favourites upon the score of their wisdom, capacity, and virtue; of teaching ministers to consult the public good; of rewarding merit, great abilities, eminent services; of instructing princes to know their true interest, by placing it on the same foundation with that of their people; of choosing for employments persons qualified to exercise them, with many other wild, impossible chimeras, that never entered before into the heart of man to conceive; and confirmed in me the old observation, "that there is nothing so extravagant and irrational, which some philosophers have not maintained for truth."
and finally,...
Quiz on the Enlightenment
Extra reading and listening:
John Gascoigne, Joseph Banks and the English Enlightenment (Cambridge, 1994)
David Allen, Making British Culture: English Readers and the Scottish Enlightenment, 1740-1830 (Routledge, 2008)
In Our Time podcast about the Lunar Society: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00548z8
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WEEK 7: A CONVERSATION PIECE: CLASS AND CULTURE
There is no lecture this week. Instead, listen to BBC Radio 4 'In Our Time' discussion about 18th century 'taste': http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0082dzm
You should prepare the following task.
* 1. Go back to one of the books we looked at in week 2 [Langford/Porter/Rogers/Thompson/Clark].
Find how they define class and describe the characteristics of each class in English society. Discuss on the studynet discussion board.
2. FIND AN EXAMPLE OF an eighteenth-century ‘conversation piece’ from the National Portrait Gallery website to discuss ON THE studynet discussion board.
Find out what a ‘conversation piece’ is.
What was the painter trying to show to the viewer?
How do you think the viewer would have responded to the painting?
See this article for more context: Kate Retford, 'From the Interior to Interiority: The Conversation Piece in Georgian England', Journal of Design History, 20: 4 (2007)
Questions to answer:
Ø What themes preoccupy historians of the ‘middling sort’/’middle class’?
Ø How is this different from other histories of eighteenth-century politics and society?
Ø How do historians define class?
Ø What do historians see as the characteristics of each class in society?
You should prepare the following task.
* 1. Go back to one of the books we looked at in week 2 [Langford/Porter/Rogers/Thompson/Clark].
Find how they define class and describe the characteristics of each class in English society. Discuss on the studynet discussion board.
2. FIND AN EXAMPLE OF an eighteenth-century ‘conversation piece’ from the National Portrait Gallery website to discuss ON THE studynet discussion board.
Find out what a ‘conversation piece’ is.
What was the painter trying to show to the viewer?
How do you think the viewer would have responded to the painting?
See this article for more context: Kate Retford, 'From the Interior to Interiority: The Conversation Piece in Georgian England', Journal of Design History, 20: 4 (2007)
Questions to answer:
Ø What themes preoccupy historians of the ‘middling sort’/’middle class’?
Ø How is this different from other histories of eighteenth-century politics and society?
Ø How do historians define class?
Ø What do historians see as the characteristics of each class in society?
WEEK 8: LUXURY AND THE CREATION OF DESIRE
_
This week we will examine the idea of a ‘consumer revolution’ and the meanings attached to material goods in eighteenth-century Britain. What social practices were associated with the acquisition and use of material objects? We will consider the class and gender dimensions of fashion since these have been central to historians’ debates about consumerism.
learning objectives:
- awareness of the historiography of consumption and consumerism
- understanding debates about luxury and the role of material goods in 18th century society
Seminar preparation: please read these two articles:
· Margot Finn, ‘Men’s Things: masculine possession in the consumer revolution’, Social History, 25: 2 (2000), 133-55
· Beverly Lemire, ‘“Second-hand beaux and red-armed belles”: conflict and the creation of fashions in England c.1660-1800’, Continuity and Change, 15: 3 (2000), 391-417
compare their arguments about gender and consumerism.
* Think about the following questions and be prepared to answer them in the seminar:
Ø What is the evidence for changing patterns of consumption in the 18th century?
Ø Which social groups were affected by a ‘consumer revolution’? How?
Ø To what extent are historians agreed on the major features and chronological patterns of this phenomenon?
Ø Neil McKendrick is a key historian on the topic of eighteenth-century consumption. Where and how do the authors refer to his work?
Ø How is this type of history different from other types of history you have studied?
Seminar tasks:
we will also look at inventories to discuss the sorts of goods found in different households in the eighteenth century.
Examine the inventories on this site: http://www.applebymagna.org.uk/appleby_history/ar14_inventories_18th_c.html
What sorts of people owned what sort of goods? Why?
Watch: At Home with the Georgians: https://youtu.be/S8xWTWZwJRI
Further reading:
- Berg, Maxine, and Eger, Elizabeth, eds., Luxury in the eighteenth-century: debates, desires and delectable goods (Basingstoke, 2003)
- Bermingham, Ann and Brewer, John, eds, The Consumption of Culture, 1600-1800: Image, Object, Text (London, 1997).
- Brewer, John, The Pleasures of the Imagination (London, 1997).
- McKendrick, Neil, Brewer, John, and Plumb, J.H., The Birth of a Consumer Society: The Commercialization of Eighteenth-Century England (1982).
This week we will examine the idea of a ‘consumer revolution’ and the meanings attached to material goods in eighteenth-century Britain. What social practices were associated with the acquisition and use of material objects? We will consider the class and gender dimensions of fashion since these have been central to historians’ debates about consumerism.
learning objectives:
- awareness of the historiography of consumption and consumerism
- understanding debates about luxury and the role of material goods in 18th century society
Seminar preparation: please read these two articles:
· Margot Finn, ‘Men’s Things: masculine possession in the consumer revolution’, Social History, 25: 2 (2000), 133-55
· Beverly Lemire, ‘“Second-hand beaux and red-armed belles”: conflict and the creation of fashions in England c.1660-1800’, Continuity and Change, 15: 3 (2000), 391-417
compare their arguments about gender and consumerism.
* Think about the following questions and be prepared to answer them in the seminar:
Ø What is the evidence for changing patterns of consumption in the 18th century?
Ø Which social groups were affected by a ‘consumer revolution’? How?
Ø To what extent are historians agreed on the major features and chronological patterns of this phenomenon?
Ø Neil McKendrick is a key historian on the topic of eighteenth-century consumption. Where and how do the authors refer to his work?
Ø How is this type of history different from other types of history you have studied?
Seminar tasks:
we will also look at inventories to discuss the sorts of goods found in different households in the eighteenth century.
Examine the inventories on this site: http://www.applebymagna.org.uk/appleby_history/ar14_inventories_18th_c.html
What sorts of people owned what sort of goods? Why?
Watch: At Home with the Georgians: https://youtu.be/S8xWTWZwJRI
Further reading:
- Berg, Maxine, and Eger, Elizabeth, eds., Luxury in the eighteenth-century: debates, desires and delectable goods (Basingstoke, 2003)
- Bermingham, Ann and Brewer, John, eds, The Consumption of Culture, 1600-1800: Image, Object, Text (London, 1997).
- Brewer, John, The Pleasures of the Imagination (London, 1997).
- McKendrick, Neil, Brewer, John, and Plumb, J.H., The Birth of a Consumer Society: The Commercialization of Eighteenth-Century England (1982).
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WEEK 9: RELIGION IN AN AGE OF DISSENT
This week we are taking a prosopographical (biographical) approach. We will be using the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
learning objectives:
- understanding the varieties of 18th century religion and the impact of toleration
- understanding and critiquing a prosopographical approach to history
Seminar preparation:
http://www.oxforddnb.com/ [access via studynet/online resources]. UH has a subscription to this major source of evidence for any period of British history.
Please browse the following entries:
Ø John Wesley (1703-1791)
Ø Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon (1707-1791)
Ø William Holland (1711–1761)
Ø Joanna Southcott (1750-1814) - this website may also be of interest - http://www.panacea-society.org/
Questions to prepare in advance:
Ø What is the advantage of a taking a biographical approach to history?
Ø What might the drawbacks be?
Ø What do the individuals listed above have in common? How were they different?
Ø What was Methodism, and why did it matter? What were the attractions of Methodism? To whom? Why?
Ø What was the role of women in eighteenth century religion?
Background reading:
- Henry Abelove, The Evangelist of Desire: John Wesley and the Methodists (1991), chapter 3, 24-39
- J. Walsh, C. Haydon and S. Taylor, eds., The Church of England, c.1689-1833: from Toleration to Tractarianism (1993)
- John Kent, Wesley and the Wesleyans: Religion in Eighteenth-Century Britain (Cambridge, 2002), chapters 3 and 4 – available as an ebook via Voyager.
- Jan Albers, ‘“Papist traitors” and “Presbyterian rogues”: religious identities in eighteenth-century Lancashire,’ in The Church of England c. 1689-c.1833, ed. J.D. Walsh, S. Taylor and C. Hayden (1993), 317-33
- David Hempton, Methodism and Politics in British Society, 1750-1850 (1986), chapter 4, 77-90
learning objectives:
- understanding the varieties of 18th century religion and the impact of toleration
- understanding and critiquing a prosopographical approach to history
Seminar preparation:
http://www.oxforddnb.com/ [access via studynet/online resources]. UH has a subscription to this major source of evidence for any period of British history.
Please browse the following entries:
Ø John Wesley (1703-1791)
Ø Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon (1707-1791)
Ø William Holland (1711–1761)
Ø Joanna Southcott (1750-1814) - this website may also be of interest - http://www.panacea-society.org/
Questions to prepare in advance:
Ø What is the advantage of a taking a biographical approach to history?
Ø What might the drawbacks be?
Ø What do the individuals listed above have in common? How were they different?
Ø What was Methodism, and why did it matter? What were the attractions of Methodism? To whom? Why?
Ø What was the role of women in eighteenth century religion?
Background reading:
- Henry Abelove, The Evangelist of Desire: John Wesley and the Methodists (1991), chapter 3, 24-39
- J. Walsh, C. Haydon and S. Taylor, eds., The Church of England, c.1689-1833: from Toleration to Tractarianism (1993)
- John Kent, Wesley and the Wesleyans: Religion in Eighteenth-Century Britain (Cambridge, 2002), chapters 3 and 4 – available as an ebook via Voyager.
- Jan Albers, ‘“Papist traitors” and “Presbyterian rogues”: religious identities in eighteenth-century Lancashire,’ in The Church of England c. 1689-c.1833, ed. J.D. Walsh, S. Taylor and C. Hayden (1993), 317-33
- David Hempton, Methodism and Politics in British Society, 1750-1850 (1986), chapter 4, 77-90
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WEEK 10: THE GREAT INCARCERATION
This week, we will use a case-study of the London Foundling Hospital to investigate the experiences of the poor and various eighteenth-century proposals to organise and reform them through institutions (workhouses, hospitals). This will suggest another perspective on social relations, the state and ideology.
Seminar preparation:
1. Get into 3 groups. Each group read one of the following articles about a type of institution
a). the Foundling Hospital: R. B. Outhwaite, '"Objects of charity": petitions to the London Foundling Hospital, 1768-72'. Eighteenth-Century Studies, 32:4 (1999), 497-51.
b). Magdalen hospitals: Mary Peace, 'The Magdalen Hospital and the Fortunes of Whiggish Sentimentality in Mid-Eighteenth-Century Britain: "Well-Grounded" Exemplarity vs. "Romantic" Exceptionality'. The Eighteenth Century [Lubbock], 48:2 (2007), 125-48; Direct link: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/the_eighteenth_century/toc/ecy48.2.html
c) prisons: Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: the Birth of the Prison (Penguin 1979) (365.9 FOU, College Lane Learning Resources Centre Main Shelves)
- read as much as you can about the 'panopticon' prison.
You may wish to read Fred Alford, 'What Would It Matter If Everything Foucault Said about Prison Were Wrong? "Discipline and Punish" after Twenty Years', Theory and Society Vol. 29, No. 1 (Feb., 2000), pp. 125-146 to understand it.
Questions to prepare for the seminar:
Ø What was the purpose of the institution? who did it serve? how was it organised?
- Did the inmates have any say or agency in improving their situations?
- what did the institutions indicate about 18th century attitudes towards the poor and marginal in society?
Ø What does Peace mean by ‘Whiggish sentimentality’?
- what are Foucault's main arguments about the influence of Jeremy Bentham on the prison system in late 18th century England? Why have other historians critiqued this interpretation?
Seminar preparation:
1. Get into 3 groups. Each group read one of the following articles about a type of institution
a). the Foundling Hospital: R. B. Outhwaite, '"Objects of charity": petitions to the London Foundling Hospital, 1768-72'. Eighteenth-Century Studies, 32:4 (1999), 497-51.
b). Magdalen hospitals: Mary Peace, 'The Magdalen Hospital and the Fortunes of Whiggish Sentimentality in Mid-Eighteenth-Century Britain: "Well-Grounded" Exemplarity vs. "Romantic" Exceptionality'. The Eighteenth Century [Lubbock], 48:2 (2007), 125-48; Direct link: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/the_eighteenth_century/toc/ecy48.2.html
c) prisons: Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: the Birth of the Prison (Penguin 1979) (365.9 FOU, College Lane Learning Resources Centre Main Shelves)
- read as much as you can about the 'panopticon' prison.
You may wish to read Fred Alford, 'What Would It Matter If Everything Foucault Said about Prison Were Wrong? "Discipline and Punish" after Twenty Years', Theory and Society Vol. 29, No. 1 (Feb., 2000), pp. 125-146 to understand it.
Questions to prepare for the seminar:
Ø What was the purpose of the institution? who did it serve? how was it organised?
- Did the inmates have any say or agency in improving their situations?
- what did the institutions indicate about 18th century attitudes towards the poor and marginal in society?
Ø What does Peace mean by ‘Whiggish sentimentality’?
- what are Foucault's main arguments about the influence of Jeremy Bentham on the prison system in late 18th century England? Why have other historians critiqued this interpretation?
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WEEK 11: REFORM AND REVOLUTION
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