Description
This is volume three 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窶冱 life was commonly thought to fall into three discrete developmental stages; personal formation and a gendered education; a young woman窶冱 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窶冱 life.
The volumes will be of interest to scholars of history, literature, gender and cultural studies, with an interest in the nineteenth-century.
Table of Contents
Volume 3: Marriage and Conduct Unbecoming
General Introduction
Volume 3 Introduction
Editorial Notes
1. Wetenhall Wilkes, A letter of genteel and moral advice to a young lady . . . (1746) (London: L. Hawes, C. Clarke, and R. Collins, 1766), pp. 165-74.
2. 窶魯ebates in the Commons on the Clandestine Marriage Bill窶� (1753), in William Cobbett (ed), Parliamentary History of Great Britain, 15 (London: Hansard, 1813), pp. 1-84.
3. Lady Pennington, An Unfortunate Mother窶冱 Advice to her Absent Daughters, in a Letter to Miss Pennington (1761) (London: J. Walter, 1784), pp. 1-14, 111-17.
4. [Mrs. Grey], 窶狼he Matron窶�, The Lady's Magazine; Or Entertaining Companion for the Fair Sex, 10 (1779), pp. vol 10, 1779, pp. 17-19, 149-51, 585-87, 635-37, 686-88.
5. Arnaud Berquin, 窶狼he School for Step-Mothers窶� and 窶狼he Affectionate Mother窶� (1783), in The Children's Friend (London: J. Stockdale, 1788), vol. 4, pp. 67-83, 188-208.
6. William Hayley, A Philosophical, Historical, and Moral Essay on Old Maids, by a Friend to the Sisterhood (1785) (London: T. Cadell, 1793), pp. 1-18, 54-83.
7. 窶狼he Cruel Stepmother or the Unhappy Son窶� (c.1785), The Ballads and Songs of Yorkshire (London: Bell and Daldy (1816), pp. 131-38.
8. The Trial of Divorce, at the Instance of Peter Williamson Printer in Edinburgh, Against Jean Wilson, Daughter of John Wilson, Bookseller in Edinburgh, His Spouse (Edinburgh: 1789), pp. iii-xxiv.
9. The Complete Art of Writing Love Letters; or, the Lover's Best Instructor (1795), (London: W. Franklin, 1800), pp. 22-26, 37-39, 91-95.
10. The Woman of Colour: A Tale . . . (London: Black, Parry & Co., 1808), pp.
11. The Female Instructor; Or, Young Woman's Companion (London: Nuttall, Fisher, and Dixon, 1811), pp. 188-99.
12. Ann Martin Taylor, 窶狼he Step-Mother窶�, in Practical Hints to Young Females, on the Duties of a Wife, a Mother, and a Mistress of a Family (London: Taylor & Hessey and J. Conder, 1815), pp. 121-29.
13. Hannah Maria Jones, Gretna Green; Or, The Elopement of Miss D--- with a Gallant Son of Mars, (London: John Tallis, 1821), pp. 3-16.
14. 窶狼he Cuckold窶冱 Chronicle窶� and 窶楼n the New Marriage Act,窶� The Rambler窶冱 Magazine; or Fashionable Emporium . . . vol. 1 (London: Benbow 1822), pp. 5-8, 59-64, 357-59.
15. Mrs. William Parkes, Domestic Duties; or, Instructions to Young Married Ladies, on the Management of Their Households . . ., (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, 1825), pp. 22-40.
16. Arthur Freeling, The Young Bride's Book; Being Hints for Regulating the Conduct of Married Women With a Few Medical Axioms (London: Henry Washbourn, 1839), pp. 51-66, 117-20.
17. Charlotte Bury, The Maneuvring Mother (1842) (London: G. Routledge, 1858), pp. 163-209.
18. Peter Orlando Hutchinson, Chronicles of Gretna Green (London: Richard Bentley, 1844), vol. 2, pp. 45-87.
19. Poor Scotch Old Maids, And How to Avoid Becoming One . . . (Edinburgh: Johnstone and Hunter, 1851), pp. 3-41.
20. James Hogg, 窶榔rovision for Aged Females窶�, in Hogg窶冱 Instructor, vol. 7 (Edinburgh: James Hogg, 1851), pp. 310-12.
21. Eliza Cook, 窶榔oor Genteel Women窶� (January 10, 1852), Eliza Cook窶冱 Journal, 6 (London: Charles Cook, 1851-52), pp. 173-75.
22. The Etiquette of Courtship and Matrimony: with a Complete Guide to the Forms of a Wedding (London: David Bogue, 1852), pp. 48-61, 86-95.
23. Caroline Norton, A Letter to the Queen on Lord Chancellor Cranworth's Marriage and Divorce Bill (London: Longman, 1855), pp. 3-31.
24. 窶狼he Economies and Duties of the Marriage State窶�, How to Woo; How to Win; and How to Get Married . . . (Glasgow: W. R. M窶儕hun, 1856), pp. 44-55.
Index
