1st Edition
Flirtation and Courtship in Nineteenth-Century British Culture
This is volume one of a three-volume set that brings together a rich collection of primary source materials on flirtation and courtship in the nineteenth-century. Introductory essays and extensive editorial apparatus offer historical and cultural contexts of the materials included
Throughout the long nineteenth-century, a woman’s life was commonly thought to fall into three discrete developmental stages; personal formation and a gendered education; a young woman’s entrance onto the marriage market; and finally her emergence at the apogee of normative femininity as wife and mother. In all three stages of development, there was an unspoken awareness of the duplicity at the heart of this carefully cultivated femininity. What women were taught, no matter their age, was that if you desired anything in life, it behooved you to perform indifference. This meant that for women, the art of flirtation and feigning indifference were viewed as essential survival skills that could guarantee success in life.
These three volumes document the many ways in which nineteenth-century women were educated in this seemingly universal wisdom, but just as frequently managed to manipulate, subvert, and navigate their way through such proscribed norms to achieve their own desires. Presenting a wide range of documents from novels, memoirs, literary journals, newspapers, plays, poetry, songs, parlour games, and legal documents, this collection will illuminate a far more diverse set of options available to women in their quest for happiness, and a new understanding of the operations of courtship and flirtation, the "central" concerns of a nineteenth-century woman’s life.
The volumes will be of interest to scholars of history, literature, gender and cultural studies, with an interest in the nineteenth-century.
Volume 1: Learning to Become a Woman
General Introduction
Volume 1 Introduction
Editorial Notes
1. The Mother’s Gift: Or a Present for all little Children Who Are Good (London: Carnan and Newbery, 1769), pp. iii, 36-51.
2. James Fordyce, The Character and Conduct of the Female Sex, and the Advantages to be Derived by Young Men from the Society of Virtuous Women (London: T. Cadell, 1776), pp. 10-17.
3. Sarah Howard, Thoughts on Female Education, with Advice to Young Ladies (London: J. Matthews, 1783), pp. 64-80
4. John Moir, Female Tuition: or, An Address to Mothers, on the Education of Daughters (1787) (London: Printed for the Author, 1800), pp. 135-67, 220-36.
5. ‘The Miseries of Improper Education’, The Lady’s Magazine, or Entertaining Companion for the Fair Sex, 20 (February 1789), pp. 83-86.
6. Mary Wollstonecraft, ‘Advertisement’, in Christian Gotthilf Salzmann, Elements of Morality, for the Use of Children; with an Introductory Address to Parents (1790), trans. Mary Wollstonecraft (London: J. Crowder, 1792), pp. i-iv.
7. ‘The Vision’, The Lady’s Magazine, or Entertaining Companion for the Fair Sex, 23 (1792), pp. 257-59.
8. The Complete Art of Writing Love Letters; or, the Lover’s Best Instructor . . . (1795) (London: W. Franklin, 1800), pp. iii-viii, 6-13, 19-20, 173-77.
9. Priscilla Wakefield, Juvenile Anecdotes, Founded on Facts: Collected for the Amusement of Children (1795-98) (London: Harvey and Darton, 1825), pp. iii-iv, 59-62, 132-55, 244-250.
10. Joseph Robertson, An Essay on the Education of Young Ladies: Addressed to a Person of Distinction (London: T. Cadell, Jr., and W. Davies, 1798), pp.1-9, 42-49.
11. Priscilla Wakefield’s Reflections on the Present Condition of the Female Sex; with Suggestions for its Improvement (London: J. Johnson and Darton and Harvey, 1798), pp. 140-95.
12. Maria Edgeworth and R. L. Edgeworth, Essays on Practical Education (1798), 2 vols. (London: J. Johnson, 1811), vol. 2, pp. 170-215.
13. Amelia Opie, ‘The Black Velvet Pelisse’, in Simple Tales, 4 vols. (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees and Orme, 1806), vol. 1, pp. 1-40.
14. Sydney Smith, ‘Review of Advice to Young Ladies on the Improvement of the Mind, by Thomas Broadhurst’ (1810), in The Works of the Rev. Sydney Smith, (London: Longman, Brown, Green, Roberts, 1840), vol. 1, pp. 200 - 220.
15. The Female Instructor; or, Young Woman's Companion: Being a Guide to All the Accomplishments which Adorn the Female Character . . .(1811) (Liverpool: Nuttall, Fisher, and Dixon, 1815), pp. iii-iv, 18-23, 28-29.
16. Mary Brunton, Discipline: A Novel (1814) (Edinburgh: Manners and Miller, 1815), pp. v-ix, 3-25.
17. Sarah Green, Gretna Green Marriages: or the Nieces (London: A.K. Newman and Co., 1823), vol.1, pp. 1-45.
18. Woman: As She Is, And As She Should Be, 2 vols. (London: James Cochrane, 1835), pp. iii-xi, xiii-xix, 47-74.
19. The Mother the Best Governess. A Practical System for the Education of Young Ladies (London: John W. Parker, 1839), pp. vii-xi, 13-21.
20. Alexander Walker, Woman: Physiologically Considered as to Mind, Morals, Marriage, Matrimonial Slavery, Infidelity and Divorce (1839) (London: A. H. Baily, 1840), pp. i - xiv, 26-48.
21. [Eugene Becklard], Physiological Mysteries and Revelations in Love Courtship and Marriage (1843) (New York: Holland & Glover, 1844), pp. iv-x, 47-63.
22. T. E. G., The Etiquette of Love, Courtship, and Marriage (London: Simpkin, Marshall,1847), pp. 13-15, 26-29.
23. T. S. Arthur, ‘Conduct Towards Men’, Advice to Young Ladies on Their Duties and Conduct in Life (1849) (London: J.S. Hodson, 1855), pp. 16-26.
24. Edward Woods Love, Courtship and Marriage (Leeds: Alice Mann, 1855).
25. Modern Pastime or, In-Door Amusements . . . (London: Frederick Warne, 1871), pp. 145-46, 152, 154.
26. Hymen’s Advice to the Ladies: A New Invented and Entertaining Game of Courtship and Matrimony, c.1790.
27. The New Game of Human Life: John Wallis (d. 1818) and Elizabeth Newberry, London, England, 1790.
28. The Mansion of Happiness. London: Printed for Laurie and Whittle, 1800.
29. Bowles's New Invented and Entertaining Game of Courtship and Matrimony ; to Be Played Not Only with Dice, as the Goose and Snake, but Also with Cards, or an Index ; with Quotations and Motto's from Celebrated Songs. London: Printed for Bowles & Carver, 1795.
Index
Biography
Ghislaine McDayter is Professor in the Department of English, Bucknell Univesity, USA
John Hunter is Professor of Comparative Humanities, Bucknell University, USA
