The Politics of Custom in Eighteenth-Century British Fiction

227 Pages·2010·1.756 MB·English

by  Scarlet Bowen (auth.)

The Politics of Custom
in Eighteenth-Century
British Fiction
The Politics of Custom
in Eighteenth-Century
British Fiction
Scarlet Bowen
THE POLITICS OF CUSTOM IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITISH FICTION
Copyright © Scarlet Bowen, 2010.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2010 978-0-230-10354-2
All rights reserved.
First published in 2010 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States – a division of
St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the
world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers
Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above
companies and has companies and representatives throughout the
world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the
United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-28787- 1 ISBN 978-0-230-11187-5 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230111875
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bowen, Scarlet, 1968–
The politics of custom in eighteenth-century British fi ction / Scarlet
Bowen.
p. cm.
1. English fi ction—18th century—History and criticism. 2. Popular
culture in literature. 3. Manners and customs in literature. I. Title.
II. Title: Popular legacies.
PR858.S615B66 2010
823'.5—dc22
2009052382
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by MPS Limited, A Macmillan Company
First edition: August 2010
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Luzia Etienne Bowen-Pérez
Contents
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1 Revitalizing the Moral Economy in the Wake of the
South Sea Bubble: Moll Flanders (1722) and
Roxana (1724) 23
2 Pamela’s “Neat Country Apparel” (1740): Ballads and
Scribbling Servants in the Literary Marketplace 53
3 “The Real Soul of a Man in Her Breast”: Memoirs of
Female Soldiers and Military Nationalism, 1740–1750 79
4 “Lost in a Mob of Impudent Plebeians”: Landed Gentry,
British Identity, and Popular Culture in
Humphry Clinker (1771) 103
5 Caleb Williams (1794): Radical Incursions into
Customary Politics and Genre 135
Epilogue 163
Notes 175
Bibliography 197
Index 215
List of Figures
4.1 “The Blacksmith lets his Iron grow cold attending
to the Taylor’s News.” 1 July 1772. Courtesy
of the Print Collection, Lewis Walpole Library,
Yale University 117
4.2 “ The State Quack.” September 1762. Courtesy
of the Print Collection, Lewis Walpole Library,
Yale University 123
4.3 “ A Poor Man Loaded with Mischief. Or John Bull
and His Sister Peg.” September 1762. Courtesy
of the Print Collection, Lewis Walpole Library,
Yale University 125
4.4 “ The Frenchman at Market.” 1770. Courtesy
of the Print Collection, Lewis Walpole Library,
Yale University 126
Acknowledgments
This project began in its earliest stages as a dissertation for the
English department at the University of Texas, Austin, where I had
the opportunity to work with a wonderful group of eighteenth- and
nineteenth-century British literature scholars, including Ann Cvetkovich,
James Garrison, Elizabeth Hedrick, Susan Heinzelman, and Helena
Woodard. I am especially appreciative of my dissertation directors Lance
Bertelsen and Lisa Moore for extending their enthusiastic support,
intelligence, and guidance long after I fi nished my graduate work;
this book could not have been completed without them.
At the University of Texas, Austin, I was also fortunate to be a part
of a group of students who have continued over the years to inspire
me with their insatiable intellectual curiosity and commitment to
academic enterprises: Jennifer Bean, Sandra Soto, Ralph Rodriguez,
Katie Kane, and David Alvarez. I am especially indebted to fellow
graduate George Boulukos, dear friend and colleague extraordinaire
who made himself available for weekly, sometimes daily, conversations
about the book, and on whose self-deprecating wit and dry sense of
humor I remain unabashedly dependent.
My career path has been long and winding, with many enriching
stops along the way. I thank colleagues for their intellectual gener-
osity and friendship at William Paterson University—Donna Perry,
Linda Hamalian, Roze Hentschell, and George Robb—as well as
those at the University of Texas, El Paso—Charles Ambler, Yolanda
Leyva, Gregory Ramos, Michael Topp, and Craig Wells.
At the University of Colorado at Boulder, I am especially indebted
to John Stevenson, Charlotte Sussman, Katherine Eggert, and Jeff
Cox, who demonstrated faith in the book project when it was still
in many ways inchoate; their support gave me a career-changing
opportunity to fl ourish as a scholar. Several colleagues from the
University of Colorado, Boulder, have helped to sharpen the book’s
focus, arguments, and prose. Catherine Labio graciously read and
commented on Chapter 1. Anna Brickhouse, Arnab Chakladar, Valerie
Forman, and William West gave invaluable feedback on Chapter 3 as
xii Acknowledgments
part of the Junior Faculty Writing Group. Jill Heydt-Stevenson’s
comments and insightful questions greatly enhanced Chapter 5, as
did Sue Zemka’s suggestions for the epilogue. David Glimp provided
new ways to think about framing the project and helped me navigate
the often bewildering path to book publication. Michael Preston and
Cathy Preston shared their extensive knowledge of and resources in
early modern popular culture. Through the years, but particularly in the
last weeks of fi nishing the book, I experienced levels of support that
went well beyond the bounds of collegiality. For their compassion, good
cheer, limitless intellectual energy and engaging conversations, I give
heartfelt thanks to those already mentioned and also to Jane Garrity,
Nan Goodman, Cheryl Higashida, Daniel Kim, Karen Jacobs, Janice
Ho, Kelly Hurley, Richelle Munkhoff, Padma Rangaranjan, Elisabeth
Sheffi eld, Jordan Stein, Teresa Toulouse, and William Kuskin. You all
make it such a pleasure to go to work everyday. I owe a special thanks,
too, to several students whose enthusiasm for eighteenth-century
literature has been positively infectious: Josikate Berry, Janine Haugen,
Krystal McMillen, Amanda Perez, and Sarah Jane Gray. Megan Cox
provided research assistance that was amazingly effi cient and thorough,
and Jeanine Reinke, Peggy McKinney, and Randall Fullington as staff
of the English department have helped me in innumerable ways.
I have been privileged through various academic conference venues
to meet a host of eighteenth-century scholars who are not only inspir-
ing for their brilliant insights into the fi eld, but who also are wonderful
supporters of junior colleagues. For their encouragement, comments
on drafts, and professional advice, I thank Katherine Binhammer,
Scott Black, Jill Campbell, Tita Chico, William Christmas, Fraser
Easton, Robert Markley, Melissa Mowry, Sally O’Driscoll, Ruth Perry,
Hope Saska, Laura Stevens, Kristina Straub, and Kathleen Wilson.
Hans Turley and Vincent Woodard passed away before this project
was completed, but I’m grateful for this opportunity to express my
gratitude for their intellectual gifts and to honor their memory.
Much of the archival research for the book was completed
before the availability of Eighteenth-Century Collections Online,
and thus I am indebted to several librarians and research staff who
shared their expertise at various research facilities: The Newberry
Library, The Huntington Library, The William Andrews Clark
Memorial Library, The Lewis Walpole Library at Yale, The Yale
Center for British Art, and The British Library. For funding to
travel to these archives, I thank the Center for the Humanities and
the Arts and the Graduate Committee on the Arts and Humanities
at the University of Colorado as well as the Offi ce of Research and
Acknowledgments xiii
Sponsored Projects at the University of Texas at El Paso. An article
version of Chapter 3 appeared in Eighteenth-Century Life.
It has been a pleasure to work with the people at Palgrave Macmillan.
Thanks to Farideh Koohi-Kamali and Brigitte Shull for their interest in
the project and to Lee Norton for his cheerful and effi cient shepherding
of the manuscript through various stages of publication.
I thank my parents Sandra Blandford and Kenneth Bowen for
their love and support; they bestowed a passion for learning and
modeled incredible drive and resourcefulness in pursuing a univer-
sity education. Amy Keltner has become a member of my family
over the years. I’m grateful for her caring heart and unsurpassed
friendship as well as for the generous hospitality of her husband,
Jason Stallings. Bringing simultaneously a human being and book
into the world is no easy feat, and certainly cannot be done without
plenty of help. I thank those who gave me the gift of time and peace
of heart by looking after my daughter Luzia while I wrote: Maria
Flamenco, Stacie Adams, Carmen Morales, all exemplary child-care
providers. I am also appreciative of the love and kindness of the
Pérez side of Luzia’s family: her Amá, her abuela Emma, and tías/
tíos: Cristelia, Nick, Sonja, Thomas, Yolanda, Selia, and Lena. For
over a decade, Emma Pérez inspired me with her love of the written
word and with her conscientious attention to the ethics of all we say,
do and write as academics. I am especially thankful for my daughter
Luzia’s joyful presence. I offer this book as a tribute to her and to
the daily reminder she provides of the inextricable delights in playing
and learning.