Lawrence Stone
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198202530
- eISBN:
- 9780191675386
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198202530.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This chapter presents a case study on courtship from provincial England, focusing on the court case Ryder v. Jones which appeared in court in 1661. The case was filed by George Ryder, a successful ...
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This chapter presents a case study on courtship from provincial England, focusing on the court case Ryder v. Jones which appeared in court in 1661. The case was filed by George Ryder, a successful young attorney, against Priscilla Jones. He claimed that they had a verbal marriage contract and asked the court to sequester Priscilla from her parents. The court granted Ryder's request and his legal harassment backfired for it annoyed Priscilla who found herself in the position of a defendant accused of reneging a formal contract.Less
This chapter presents a case study on courtship from provincial England, focusing on the court case Ryder v. Jones which appeared in court in 1661. The case was filed by George Ryder, a successful young attorney, against Priscilla Jones. He claimed that they had a verbal marriage contract and asked the court to sequester Priscilla from her parents. The court granted Ryder's request and his legal harassment backfired for it annoyed Priscilla who found herself in the position of a defendant accused of reneging a formal contract.
Mike Hansell
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198507529
- eISBN:
- 9780191709838
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198507529.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Animal Biology
Construction behaviour occurs across the entire spectrum of the animal kingdom and affects the survival of both builders and other organisms associated with them. This book provides a comprehensive ...
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Construction behaviour occurs across the entire spectrum of the animal kingdom and affects the survival of both builders and other organisms associated with them. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the biology of animal building. It recognizes three broad categories of built structure: homes, traps, and courtship displays. Even though some of these structures are complex and very large, the behaviour required to build them is generally simple and the anatomy for building unspecialized. Standardization of building materials helps to keep building repertoires simple, while self-organizing effects help create complexity. In a case-study approach to function, insects demonstrate how homes can remain operational while they grow, spiderwebs illustrate mechanical design, and the displays of bowerbirds raise the possibility of persuasion through design rather than just decoration. Studies of the costs to builders provide evidence of optimal designs and of trade-offs with other life history traits. As ecosystem engineers, the influence of builders is extensive and their effect is generally to enhance biodiversity through niche construction. Animal builders can therefore represent model species for the study of the emerging subject of environmental inheritance. Building, and in particular building with silk, has been demonstrated to have important evolutionary consequences.Less
Construction behaviour occurs across the entire spectrum of the animal kingdom and affects the survival of both builders and other organisms associated with them. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the biology of animal building. It recognizes three broad categories of built structure: homes, traps, and courtship displays. Even though some of these structures are complex and very large, the behaviour required to build them is generally simple and the anatomy for building unspecialized. Standardization of building materials helps to keep building repertoires simple, while self-organizing effects help create complexity. In a case-study approach to function, insects demonstrate how homes can remain operational while they grow, spiderwebs illustrate mechanical design, and the displays of bowerbirds raise the possibility of persuasion through design rather than just decoration. Studies of the costs to builders provide evidence of optimal designs and of trade-offs with other life history traits. As ecosystem engineers, the influence of builders is extensive and their effect is generally to enhance biodiversity through niche construction. Animal builders can therefore represent model species for the study of the emerging subject of environmental inheritance. Building, and in particular building with silk, has been demonstrated to have important evolutionary consequences.
Sarah M. S. Pearsall
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199532995
- eISBN:
- 9780191714443
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199532995.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This chapter defines the concept of familiarity, a means by which even individuals not related by family could achieve family-like relationships. Such familiarity — distinguished from either ...
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This chapter defines the concept of familiarity, a means by which even individuals not related by family could achieve family-like relationships. Such familiarity — distinguished from either politeness or intimacy — allowed individuals adrift to join other circles and so find the support they implied. The chapter enumerates the ways familiarity could be established among non-family members by such means as the education and care of a child, or courtship and marriage. Letters helped to carve out a space of familiarity, even when distance separated family members, and forced them to rely on non-family members. Many printed letters, in epistolary manuals (such as The Complete Letter Writer), epistolary novels (such as Samuel Richardson's Pamela), and letter collections (such as that by Lord Chesterfield) helped to popularize this tone of familiarity. Family letters were a critical means of forging familiarity, and they did so in their tones and style, as well as their substance.Less
This chapter defines the concept of familiarity, a means by which even individuals not related by family could achieve family-like relationships. Such familiarity — distinguished from either politeness or intimacy — allowed individuals adrift to join other circles and so find the support they implied. The chapter enumerates the ways familiarity could be established among non-family members by such means as the education and care of a child, or courtship and marriage. Letters helped to carve out a space of familiarity, even when distance separated family members, and forced them to rely on non-family members. Many printed letters, in epistolary manuals (such as The Complete Letter Writer), epistolary novels (such as Samuel Richardson's Pamela), and letter collections (such as that by Lord Chesterfield) helped to popularize this tone of familiarity. Family letters were a critical means of forging familiarity, and they did so in their tones and style, as well as their substance.
Ryan André Brasseaux
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195343069
- eISBN:
- 9780199866977
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195343069.003.0002
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
Dance culture and the social contexts that shaped Cajun musical traditions through 1950 constitute the primary focus of this study. Cajun musical expression is considered here, in relation to the ...
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Dance culture and the social contexts that shaped Cajun musical traditions through 1950 constitute the primary focus of this study. Cajun musical expression is considered here, in relation to the varied social dynamics acting on the genre, through an analytical lens categorizing musical expression into one of three distinct, but complementary roles within its host community: home music, sung a cappella for pleasure in a domestic setting for friends, family, or personal enjoyment; ritualistic ballad recitations at significant events straddling secular and religious social spheres; and dance music performed at bals de maison (house dances) and later dance halls—a distinctive style that would be exploited commercially in the early 20th century. The contexts surrounding this vernacular American music satisfied the group’s basic needs for self-expression, social interaction, courtship, and entertainment. This chapter concludes that social context is a crucial factor in the Cajun musical equation that ultimately shapes and defines this brand of ethnic cultural expression.Less
Dance culture and the social contexts that shaped Cajun musical traditions through 1950 constitute the primary focus of this study. Cajun musical expression is considered here, in relation to the varied social dynamics acting on the genre, through an analytical lens categorizing musical expression into one of three distinct, but complementary roles within its host community: home music, sung a cappella for pleasure in a domestic setting for friends, family, or personal enjoyment; ritualistic ballad recitations at significant events straddling secular and religious social spheres; and dance music performed at bals de maison (house dances) and later dance halls—a distinctive style that would be exploited commercially in the early 20th century. The contexts surrounding this vernacular American music satisfied the group’s basic needs for self-expression, social interaction, courtship, and entertainment. This chapter concludes that social context is a crucial factor in the Cajun musical equation that ultimately shapes and defines this brand of ethnic cultural expression.
Lesel Dawson
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199266128
- eISBN:
- 9780191708688
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199266128.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature, Women's Literature
This chapter offers an introduction to medical ideas about lovesickness and the ways in which these are represented in literature. It is divided into three sections. The first section details the ...
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This chapter offers an introduction to medical ideas about lovesickness and the ways in which these are represented in literature. It is divided into three sections. The first section details the physiological construction of lovesickness, cataloguing its origins, symptoms, and cures, and suggesting how the four aetiologies of lovesickness offer different ways of conceptualizing desire and its bodily impact. This is followed by a consideration of historical accounts of individuals experiencing the disease in diaries, letters, and doctors' case notes. The final section examines the self-fashioning of the melancholy lover; it details the social and intellectual connotations of lovesick display and analyses the disease's psychic and seductive functions. Lovesickness is shown to be an effective tool in courtship, providing an important means of expression desire and of engineering its fulfilment.Less
This chapter offers an introduction to medical ideas about lovesickness and the ways in which these are represented in literature. It is divided into three sections. The first section details the physiological construction of lovesickness, cataloguing its origins, symptoms, and cures, and suggesting how the four aetiologies of lovesickness offer different ways of conceptualizing desire and its bodily impact. This is followed by a consideration of historical accounts of individuals experiencing the disease in diaries, letters, and doctors' case notes. The final section examines the self-fashioning of the melancholy lover; it details the social and intellectual connotations of lovesick display and analyses the disease's psychic and seductive functions. Lovesickness is shown to be an effective tool in courtship, providing an important means of expression desire and of engineering its fulfilment.
Eleanor Hubbard
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199609345
- eISBN:
- 9780191739088
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199609345.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
City Women is a major new study of the lives of ordinary women in early modern London. Drawing on thousands of pages of Londoners' depositions for the consistory court, it focuses on the ...
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City Women is a major new study of the lives of ordinary women in early modern London. Drawing on thousands of pages of Londoners' depositions for the consistory court, it focuses on the challenges that preoccupied London women as they strove for survival and preferment in the burgeoning metropolis. Balancing new demographic data with vivid case studies, it explores the advantages and dangers that the city had to offer, from women's first arrival to London as migrant maidservants, through the vicissitudes of marriage, widowhood, and old age. In early modern London, women's opportunities were tightly restricted. Nonetheless, before 1640, the city's unique demographic circumstances provided unusual scope for marital advancement, and both maids and widows were quick to take advantage of this. Similarly, moments of opportunity emerged when the powerful sexual anxieties that associated women's speech and mobility with loose behavior came into conflict with even more powerful anxieties about the economic stability of households and communities. As neighbors and magistrates sought to reconcile their competing priorities in cases of illegitimate pregnancy, marital disputes, working wives, remarrying widows, and more, women were able to exploit the resulting uncertainty to pursue their own ends. By paying close attention to the aspirations and preoccupations of London women themselves, their daily struggles, small triumphs, and domestic tragedies, this study provides a valuable new perspective on the importance of early modern women's efforts in the growing capital, and on the nature of early modern English society as a whole.Less
City Women is a major new study of the lives of ordinary women in early modern London. Drawing on thousands of pages of Londoners' depositions for the consistory court, it focuses on the challenges that preoccupied London women as they strove for survival and preferment in the burgeoning metropolis. Balancing new demographic data with vivid case studies, it explores the advantages and dangers that the city had to offer, from women's first arrival to London as migrant maidservants, through the vicissitudes of marriage, widowhood, and old age. In early modern London, women's opportunities were tightly restricted. Nonetheless, before 1640, the city's unique demographic circumstances provided unusual scope for marital advancement, and both maids and widows were quick to take advantage of this. Similarly, moments of opportunity emerged when the powerful sexual anxieties that associated women's speech and mobility with loose behavior came into conflict with even more powerful anxieties about the economic stability of households and communities. As neighbors and magistrates sought to reconcile their competing priorities in cases of illegitimate pregnancy, marital disputes, working wives, remarrying widows, and more, women were able to exploit the resulting uncertainty to pursue their own ends. By paying close attention to the aspirations and preoccupations of London women themselves, their daily struggles, small triumphs, and domestic tragedies, this study provides a valuable new perspective on the importance of early modern women's efforts in the growing capital, and on the nature of early modern English society as a whole.
Siân Reynolds
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199560424
- eISBN:
- 9780191741814
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199560424.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History, Cultural History
In this chapter, the nature of eighteenth-century marriages at different levels of society is discussed. Previous suitors or fiancées of Marie-Jeanne Phlipon and Jean-Marie Roland illustrate the ...
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In this chapter, the nature of eighteenth-century marriages at different levels of society is discussed. Previous suitors or fiancées of Marie-Jeanne Phlipon and Jean-Marie Roland illustrate the unusual nature of the marriage: both families have other ideas. The couple's first meeting, secret engagement and up-and-down courtship are described. Conducted largely by letter, their agreement faces obstacles of pride, prejudice and emotion, and almost breaks down, before a dramatic interview at the convent.Less
In this chapter, the nature of eighteenth-century marriages at different levels of society is discussed. Previous suitors or fiancées of Marie-Jeanne Phlipon and Jean-Marie Roland illustrate the unusual nature of the marriage: both families have other ideas. The couple's first meeting, secret engagement and up-and-down courtship are described. Conducted largely by letter, their agreement faces obstacles of pride, prejudice and emotion, and almost breaks down, before a dramatic interview at the convent.
Eleanor Hubbard
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199609345
- eISBN:
- 9780191739088
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199609345.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This chapter addresses the appeal of the London marriage market for migrant maids. Due to the predominance of men in the London population, women there married relatively early, around the age of 24. ...
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This chapter addresses the appeal of the London marriage market for migrant maids. Due to the predominance of men in the London population, women there married relatively early, around the age of 24. Very few remained unmarried, in stark contrast to the high celibacy rates in the rest of England, even though the evidence suggests that most maidservants had meager portions and were unable to save much money in service. This chapter compares marital outcomes for migrant and London‐born women, and presents several cases studies of London courtship, mostly between apprentices and maidservants. It discusses the constraints under which apprentices courted, the role of family and friends in aiding and restricting courtship, the strategies of migrant maids without local kin, the dangers of drawn‐out courtships, and the role of economic and romantic considerations for courting couples.Less
This chapter addresses the appeal of the London marriage market for migrant maids. Due to the predominance of men in the London population, women there married relatively early, around the age of 24. Very few remained unmarried, in stark contrast to the high celibacy rates in the rest of England, even though the evidence suggests that most maidservants had meager portions and were unable to save much money in service. This chapter compares marital outcomes for migrant and London‐born women, and presents several cases studies of London courtship, mostly between apprentices and maidservants. It discusses the constraints under which apprentices courted, the role of family and friends in aiding and restricting courtship, the strategies of migrant maids without local kin, the dangers of drawn‐out courtships, and the role of economic and romantic considerations for courting couples.
Eleanor Hubbard
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199609345
- eISBN:
- 9780191739088
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199609345.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This chapter discusses widowhood, remarriage, and old age in early modern London. It uses quantitative data to demonstrate that London widows remarried rapidly. City law treated widows relatively ...
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This chapter discusses widowhood, remarriage, and old age in early modern London. It uses quantitative data to demonstrate that London widows remarried rapidly. City law treated widows relatively favorably in terms of inheritance, and remarriage – with the accompanying horizontal wealth transfers – was an accepted part of London’s commercial culture. Only elderly widows were unlikely to remarry. Remarrying widows demonstrated a preference for younger, bachelor bridegrooms, perhaps because they hoped to obtain the benefits of marriage without the disadvantages of subjection by marrying poorer men. These marriages were risky, however, as poor bridegrooms might attempt to assert household mastery. This chapter also argues that widows who remained single and independent posed no threat to patriarchal order, and discusses their survival strategies. It concludes by examining the stresses of old age and physical decline.Less
This chapter discusses widowhood, remarriage, and old age in early modern London. It uses quantitative data to demonstrate that London widows remarried rapidly. City law treated widows relatively favorably in terms of inheritance, and remarriage – with the accompanying horizontal wealth transfers – was an accepted part of London’s commercial culture. Only elderly widows were unlikely to remarry. Remarrying widows demonstrated a preference for younger, bachelor bridegrooms, perhaps because they hoped to obtain the benefits of marriage without the disadvantages of subjection by marrying poorer men. These marriages were risky, however, as poor bridegrooms might attempt to assert household mastery. This chapter also argues that widows who remained single and independent posed no threat to patriarchal order, and discusses their survival strategies. It concludes by examining the stresses of old age and physical decline.
Claudia Tate
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195108576
- eISBN:
- 9780199855094
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195108576.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, African-American Literature
Why did African American women novelists use idealized stories of bourgeois courtship and marriage to mount arguments on social reform during the last decade of the 19th century, during a time when ...
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Why did African American women novelists use idealized stories of bourgeois courtship and marriage to mount arguments on social reform during the last decade of the 19th century, during a time when resurgent racism conditioned the lives of all black Americans? Such stories now seem like apolitical fantasies to contemporary readers. This is the question at the centre of this book’s examination of the novels of Pauline Hopkins, Emma Kelley, Amelia Johnson, Katherine Tillman, and Frances Harper. The book is a literary study, but also a social and intellectual history—a cultural critique of a period that historian Rayford W. Logan has called “the Dark Ages of recent American history.” Against a rich contextual framework, extending from abolitionist protest to the Black Aesthetic, the book argues that the idealized marriage plot in these novels does not merely depict the heroine’s happiness and economic prosperity. More importantly, that plot encodes a resonant cultural narrative—a domestic allegory—about the political ambitions of an emancipated people. Once this domestic allegory of political desire is unmasked in these novels, it can be seen as a significant discourse of the post-Reconstruction era for representing African Americans’ collective dreams about freedom and for reconstructing those contested dreams into consummations of civil liberty.Less
Why did African American women novelists use idealized stories of bourgeois courtship and marriage to mount arguments on social reform during the last decade of the 19th century, during a time when resurgent racism conditioned the lives of all black Americans? Such stories now seem like apolitical fantasies to contemporary readers. This is the question at the centre of this book’s examination of the novels of Pauline Hopkins, Emma Kelley, Amelia Johnson, Katherine Tillman, and Frances Harper. The book is a literary study, but also a social and intellectual history—a cultural critique of a period that historian Rayford W. Logan has called “the Dark Ages of recent American history.” Against a rich contextual framework, extending from abolitionist protest to the Black Aesthetic, the book argues that the idealized marriage plot in these novels does not merely depict the heroine’s happiness and economic prosperity. More importantly, that plot encodes a resonant cultural narrative—a domestic allegory—about the political ambitions of an emancipated people. Once this domestic allegory of political desire is unmasked in these novels, it can be seen as a significant discourse of the post-Reconstruction era for representing African Americans’ collective dreams about freedom and for reconstructing those contested dreams into consummations of civil liberty.
Heather O’Donoghue
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198117834
- eISBN:
- 9780191671074
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198117834.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature, Mythology and Folklore
This chapter examines the verses of the Kormáks saga concerning Kormákr's courtship of Steingerðr. This episode, in four skaldic stanzas, acts as dramatically direct speech in the narrative. This ...
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This chapter examines the verses of the Kormáks saga concerning Kormákr's courtship of Steingerðr. This episode, in four skaldic stanzas, acts as dramatically direct speech in the narrative. This scene is composed of two separate fictions, the primary fiction of the skaldic verse and the secondary fiction of the narrative in verse and prose. This chapter suggests that the verse and prose in this chapter of the saga work together to create its overriding impression of warmth and spontaneity.Less
This chapter examines the verses of the Kormáks saga concerning Kormákr's courtship of Steingerðr. This episode, in four skaldic stanzas, acts as dramatically direct speech in the narrative. This scene is composed of two separate fictions, the primary fiction of the skaldic verse and the secondary fiction of the narrative in verse and prose. This chapter suggests that the verse and prose in this chapter of the saga work together to create its overriding impression of warmth and spontaneity.
James Sambrook
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198117889
- eISBN:
- 9780191671104
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198117889.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
This chapter discusses the letters Thomson wrote during his courtship of Elizabeth Young. It is rather difficult to describe this courtship, due to the fact that hardly anything is known about ...
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This chapter discusses the letters Thomson wrote during his courtship of Elizabeth Young. It is rather difficult to describe this courtship, due to the fact that hardly anything is known about Elizabeth. This chapter also includes the different revisions made of Seasons and Tancred and Sigismunda.Less
This chapter discusses the letters Thomson wrote during his courtship of Elizabeth Young. It is rather difficult to describe this courtship, due to the fact that hardly anything is known about Elizabeth. This chapter also includes the different revisions made of Seasons and Tancred and Sigismunda.
Isobel Grundy
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198187653
- eISBN:
- 9780191674730
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198187653.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, 18th-century Literature
Mary's father chose Clotworthy Skeffington and heir to Viscount Massereene, to be her husband. Though she often talked of knuckling under, she felt she ‘had rather give my hand to the Flames than to ...
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Mary's father chose Clotworthy Skeffington and heir to Viscount Massereene, to be her husband. Though she often talked of knuckling under, she felt she ‘had rather give my hand to the Flames than to him’. It was in this desperate juncture of her affairs that she received out of the blue, in early June 1712, a letter from Edward Wortley Montagu. He was still in love, and he saw her slipping out of his grasp forever.Less
Mary's father chose Clotworthy Skeffington and heir to Viscount Massereene, to be her husband. Though she often talked of knuckling under, she felt she ‘had rather give my hand to the Flames than to him’. It was in this desperate juncture of her affairs that she received out of the blue, in early June 1712, a letter from Edward Wortley Montagu. He was still in love, and he saw her slipping out of his grasp forever.
Amy M. King
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195161519
- eISBN:
- 9780199787838
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195161519.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
This chapter explores how the representation of the sexual content of “public” courtship is achieved in Jane Austen's novels. It argues that bloom underpins the marriage plot and, unlike the ...
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This chapter explores how the representation of the sexual content of “public” courtship is achieved in Jane Austen's novels. It argues that bloom underpins the marriage plot and, unlike the picturesque landscape or the garden, is not an overt subject within the narrative, except for the occasional reference to blooming complexions. Rather, bloom is a narrative indicator of sequence and action leading to the novel's closure in marriage. Detailed readings of four Austen bloom plots (Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion) are used to show how these texts represent the sexual dimension to courtship. In doing so, the argument about bloom suggests an alternative account of readerly pleasure in closure, one that emphasizes the sexual potential with which the novel closes: marriage as the initiation into an already forecast erotics.Less
This chapter explores how the representation of the sexual content of “public” courtship is achieved in Jane Austen's novels. It argues that bloom underpins the marriage plot and, unlike the picturesque landscape or the garden, is not an overt subject within the narrative, except for the occasional reference to blooming complexions. Rather, bloom is a narrative indicator of sequence and action leading to the novel's closure in marriage. Detailed readings of four Austen bloom plots (Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion) are used to show how these texts represent the sexual dimension to courtship. In doing so, the argument about bloom suggests an alternative account of readerly pleasure in closure, one that emphasizes the sexual potential with which the novel closes: marriage as the initiation into an already forecast erotics.
Amy M. King
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195161519
- eISBN:
- 9780199787838
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195161519.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
This chapter traces the way George Eliot's novels extend the courtship plot to nonmarital sexuality, or what Linnaeus called “clandestine marriage.” It explores how 19th-century natural history and ...
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This chapter traces the way George Eliot's novels extend the courtship plot to nonmarital sexuality, or what Linnaeus called “clandestine marriage.” It explores how 19th-century natural history and its classificatory energies are employed by Eliot to not only represent versions of courtship anticipated by Linnaeus (yet neglected by novelists) but also to achieve, more broadly, a new kind of realism in which the representation of the social world is achieved through organizing principles derived from natural history.Less
This chapter traces the way George Eliot's novels extend the courtship plot to nonmarital sexuality, or what Linnaeus called “clandestine marriage.” It explores how 19th-century natural history and its classificatory energies are employed by Eliot to not only represent versions of courtship anticipated by Linnaeus (yet neglected by novelists) but also to achieve, more broadly, a new kind of realism in which the representation of the social world is achieved through organizing principles derived from natural history.
Patrick Parrinder
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199264858
- eISBN:
- 9780191698989
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199264858.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
Novels are made by ordinary people and are intended for private reading. The novel effectively influences the perceptions of individuals because it cannot be brought into official sanction by state ...
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Novels are made by ordinary people and are intended for private reading. The novel effectively influences the perceptions of individuals because it cannot be brought into official sanction by state apparatus. Its relationship between modernity and the readers is discussed in the chapter. Novels were relatively new as a literary form. The earliest English novelists portrayed the tragic experiences of orphans, prostitutes, criminals, and other displaced persons. Others have contributed in providing valuable insights in the history and nationhood of England. Several novels are associated with the cultural aspect of the nation, rather than its political side. The chapter ends with a discussion of different types of novels — family saga, courtship novel, and journey novel. Examples were also used in the chapter to discuss the distinguishing characteristic of each type.Less
Novels are made by ordinary people and are intended for private reading. The novel effectively influences the perceptions of individuals because it cannot be brought into official sanction by state apparatus. Its relationship between modernity and the readers is discussed in the chapter. Novels were relatively new as a literary form. The earliest English novelists portrayed the tragic experiences of orphans, prostitutes, criminals, and other displaced persons. Others have contributed in providing valuable insights in the history and nationhood of England. Several novels are associated with the cultural aspect of the nation, rather than its political side. The chapter ends with a discussion of different types of novels — family saga, courtship novel, and journey novel. Examples were also used in the chapter to discuss the distinguishing characteristic of each type.
Maximillian E. Novak
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199261543
- eISBN:
- 9780191698743
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199261543.003.0056
- Subject:
- Literature, 18th-century Literature
Some time in 1724 Henry Baker, an aspiring poet with a unique ability to teach deaf children to speak and to give them a general education, began a journey from Enfield to Stoke Newington where he ...
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Some time in 1724 Henry Baker, an aspiring poet with a unique ability to teach deaf children to speak and to give them a general education, began a journey from Enfield to Stoke Newington where he stayed with a local family. Baker states that Daniel Defoe first sought him out here. If this is so, Baker met with Defoe for almost three years before he began his courtship of Defoe’s younger daughter, Sophia, on August 11, 1727. The story that Baker wanted to tell involved the difficulties entailed in the courtship — difficulties caused by Defoe’s unwillingness to provide what Baker considered a satisfactory dowry. Before the great deistic offensive of the 1720s, two important controversies (scandals might be the better word) attracted Defoe’s attention, one within the Church of England and the other among the ranks of the Dissenters. Defoe’s first full-length attack upon the position of the deists appears to have been An Essay upon Literature, which, according to John Robert Moore, appeared in April or May 1726.Less
Some time in 1724 Henry Baker, an aspiring poet with a unique ability to teach deaf children to speak and to give them a general education, began a journey from Enfield to Stoke Newington where he stayed with a local family. Baker states that Daniel Defoe first sought him out here. If this is so, Baker met with Defoe for almost three years before he began his courtship of Defoe’s younger daughter, Sophia, on August 11, 1727. The story that Baker wanted to tell involved the difficulties entailed in the courtship — difficulties caused by Defoe’s unwillingness to provide what Baker considered a satisfactory dowry. Before the great deistic offensive of the 1720s, two important controversies (scandals might be the better word) attracted Defoe’s attention, one within the Church of England and the other among the ranks of the Dissenters. Defoe’s first full-length attack upon the position of the deists appears to have been An Essay upon Literature, which, according to John Robert Moore, appeared in April or May 1726.
Brenda E. Stevenson
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195118032
- eISBN:
- 9780199853793
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195118032.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
The chapter discusses the inherent difficulties of romance, courtship, and marriage in the slave community. Though their masters did have the final say on all their dealings and associations, many ...
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The chapter discusses the inherent difficulties of romance, courtship, and marriage in the slave community. Though their masters did have the final say on all their dealings and associations, many slaves chose the path of resistance should the intervention prove unbearable. Each slave community functioned as an extended family, forming bonds of kinship, and creating its own conventions that heavily influenced the choices of their members regarding marriage and attachments, more so than what they owners had imagined. Factors affecting the ability of slave couples to have normal familial relations included the often abused sexual right of the owner over a slave woman and the inability of slave men to form deeper attachments with their women due to their upbringing. In the remaining sections of this chapter, birthing patterns, fertility, and infant mortality are all analyzed and contrasted with statistics for the same issues relating to white women. Lastly, related instances of resistance and rebellion are recounted.Less
The chapter discusses the inherent difficulties of romance, courtship, and marriage in the slave community. Though their masters did have the final say on all their dealings and associations, many slaves chose the path of resistance should the intervention prove unbearable. Each slave community functioned as an extended family, forming bonds of kinship, and creating its own conventions that heavily influenced the choices of their members regarding marriage and attachments, more so than what they owners had imagined. Factors affecting the ability of slave couples to have normal familial relations included the often abused sexual right of the owner over a slave woman and the inability of slave men to form deeper attachments with their women due to their upbringing. In the remaining sections of this chapter, birthing patterns, fertility, and infant mortality are all analyzed and contrasted with statistics for the same issues relating to white women. Lastly, related instances of resistance and rebellion are recounted.
Lawrence Stone
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198202530
- eISBN:
- 9780191675386
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198202530.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This chapter presents a case study on courtship among the minor gentry in England focusing on the court cases Troope v. Stenson and Henworth v. Stenson filed between 1652–1664. These cases were filed ...
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This chapter presents a case study on courtship among the minor gentry in England focusing on the court cases Troope v. Stenson and Henworth v. Stenson filed between 1652–1664. These cases were filed against Mary Stenson by Jonathan Troope and William Henworth, stating that they were both legally married to Stenson. In December 1664, the court dismissed the case, sentenced Stenson, and confirmed the legality and validity of her marriage to Gilbert Mundy.Less
This chapter presents a case study on courtship among the minor gentry in England focusing on the court cases Troope v. Stenson and Henworth v. Stenson filed between 1652–1664. These cases were filed against Mary Stenson by Jonathan Troope and William Henworth, stating that they were both legally married to Stenson. In December 1664, the court dismissed the case, sentenced Stenson, and confirmed the legality and validity of her marriage to Gilbert Mundy.
Lawrence Stone
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198202530
- eISBN:
- 9780191675386
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198202530.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This chapter presents a case study on courtship from provincial England, focusing on the case Harris v. Lingard in 1701. The case was filed by organ maker Rene Harris against Jack Lingard. Abigail ...
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This chapter presents a case study on courtship from provincial England, focusing on the case Harris v. Lingard in 1701. The case was filed by organ maker Rene Harris against Jack Lingard. Abigail Harris became pregnant by Jack but the parental power exercised by the Lingard parents forced Jack to abandon Abigail to her fate. The revelations about Abigail's many other flirtations provided Jack with enough justification to do so.Less
This chapter presents a case study on courtship from provincial England, focusing on the case Harris v. Lingard in 1701. The case was filed by organ maker Rene Harris against Jack Lingard. Abigail Harris became pregnant by Jack but the parental power exercised by the Lingard parents forced Jack to abandon Abigail to her fate. The revelations about Abigail's many other flirtations provided Jack with enough justification to do so.
