عنوان

Sex, money & personal character in eighteenth-century British politics /

0300208456

9780300208450

dltt

Sex, money & personal character in eighteenth-century British politics /

[Book]

Marilyn Morris

xiii, 257 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates ;

24 cm

Lewis Walpole Series in Eighteenth-C

Includes bibliographical references and index

The political and the personal -- The politics of personal character -- The measure of men -- Court, courtship and domestic virture -- The ethics of fashion, spending, credit and debt -- Views from the peripheries of the political world -- The persistence of casuistry

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How, and why, did the Anglo-American world become so obsessed with the private lives and public character of its political leaders? Marilyn Morris finds answers in eighteenth-century Britain, when a long tradition of court intrigue and gossip spread into a much broader and more public political arena with the growth of political parties, extra-parliamentary political activities, and a partisan print culture. The public's preoccupation with the personal character of the ruling elite paralleled a growing interest in the interior lives of individuals in histories, novels, and the theater. Newspaper reports of the royal family intensified in intimacy and its members became moral exemplars-most often, paradoxically, when they misbehaved. Ad hominem attacks on political leaders became commonplace; politicians of all affiliations continued to assess one another's characters based on their success and daring with women and money. And newly popular human-interest journalism promoted the illusion that the personal characters of public figures could be read by appearances.--Provided by publisher

Journalism-- Political aspects-- England-- History

Press and politics-- Great Britain-- History-- 18th century

Great Britain, Politics and government, 18th century

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Morris, Marilyn,1957-

20160226105609.0

rda

[Book]

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