'The Crisis of Courtesy' examines the apparent decline of the courtesy-book in Britain after the 16th century and suggests that the matter of courtesy was disseminated into a broad range of literary genres such as poetry, the essay and the novel. The authors highlight the pervasive interest in conduct evinced in Georgian and Victorian literature. They show how it became an important source of inspiration for middle-class writers and artists who were eager to help their readers adapt to a changing society, but preferred to write in a humorous, satirical or imaginative vein rather than in a prescriptive manner. The book will be useful to the literary historian, as some major Augustan works such as those of Swift, Fielding and Hogarth are analysed from a new perspective.
Author(s): Jacques Carré (ed.)
Series: Brill's Studies in Intellectual History, 51
Publisher: E. J. Brill
Year: 1994
Language: English
Pages: 224
City: Leiden
Introduction / Jacques Carré 1
PART ONE. THE TRANSFORMATION OF A GENRE
The Tradition of Delia Casa' s 'Galateo' inEnglish / John R. Woodhouse 11
Social Change and Gender Decorum: Renaissance Courtesy / Michael Steppat 27
Standardization vs. Genre: Conduct-books and Chap-Literature / Gilles Duval 41
Hogarth's 'Industry and Idleness': Subversive Lessons on Conduct / Peter Wagner 51
PART TWO. CONVERSATION AND CONDUCT
The Courtesy-Book and the Phrase-Book in Modern Europe / Niels Haastrup 65
Maxims of Conduct into Literature: Jonathan Swift and Polite Conversation / Dieter A. Berger 81
Fielding's 'Essay on Conversation': a Courtesy Guide to 'Joseph Andrews'? / Tim McLoughlin 93
PART THREE. THE GENTLEMAN AND THE MAN OF TASTE
Lord Chesterfield's 'Letters' as Conduct-Books / Georges Lamoine 105
The Man of Taste as Social Model, or, 'Sense and Sensibility' / Rémy G. Saisselin 119
The Gentleman as Gardener: Pope, Shenstone, Mason / Michel Baridon 129
PART FOUR. THE LADY AND THE SPOUSE
Courtly Manners in a Victorian Home: Patmore's 'The Angel in the House' / Maurice Montabrut 145
The Lady and the Poor Man; or, the Philanthropist's Etiquette in Victorian England / Jacques Carré 157
Etiquette and Marriage at the Turn of the 20th Century: Advice on Choosing One's Partner / Kathleen Dejardin 167
PART FIVE. BIBLIOGRAPHY
A Short Bibliography of Conduct-Books Published in Britain (1500-1993) / Alain Montandon and Jacques Carré 183
Note on contributors 195
Name index 197
List of illustrations 202
Plates I-XVII
