"What did she say? – Just what she ought, of course. A lady
always does." This book explores the act of declaring love in works
of literature written between the middle of the eighteenth century
and the death of Jane Austen - and uncovers the uncertain
boundaries of the self in the force-field of courtship. Declaring
love is understood as the hazardous attempt to find public, social
terms which can communicate personal feelings and bring intimacy
into being. This was a period highly sensitive to the propriety and
artificiality of public forms, and hence peculiarly alive to
problems around the idea of saying what you feel, problems
experienced especially though not exclusively by women. Through
this historical lens the author considers the ways in which we may
become entangled with one another through language, the limits to
our operation as independent individuals, and whether in love you
can only feel what you can tell. The first part of the book
examines eighteenth-century attitudes towards the independent or
disengaged self, performance culture, and the feasibility of
sincerity, through readings of a wide range of different works.
This provides the basis for a discussion of Austen's novels in the
final two chapters, focused on the dynamics of courtship and the
moment of proposal, and making much of the role of Austen's
narrative voice in supporting the subjectivity of the one in love.
General
Imprint: |
Routledge
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Series: |
Routledge Studies in Eighteenth-Century Literature |
Release date: |
September 2020 |
First published: |
2019 |
Authors: |
Fred Parker
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 19mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
204 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-367-66468-8 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
0-367-66468-2 |
Barcode: |
9780367664688 |
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