Marilyn Morris. Sex, Money and Personal Character in Eighteenth-Century British Politics

Marilyn Morris covers a long history, from the Restoration through the Georgian period, of personal character’s role in eighteenth-century British politics. The habit of equating personal integrity with public trustworthiness started in the courts of Charles II and gained momentum with the Georges. Morris relates her historical argument to modern American politics. This is a detailed, quotation-rich argument; however, it does not provide a trendy claim to relevance. Working with newspapers, political pamphlets, satirical prints, autobiographical writing, and personal letters, Morris opens a fascinating view of the chatty, often catty, sociability that underpinned political power in the British long eighteenth century. The first chapter looks at private and public writings during Robert Walpole’s administration to demonstrate the role of sexuality in shaping political relationships between men. As the century wore on, domestic morality could be a point of public credit for politicians, but the allure of the rakish, good-natured “player” was often better suited to the homosocial world of English politics.

Argument (complex analysis) · Media studies · Morality · Newspaper · Political science · Politics · Power (physics) · Sociology · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History · Law · Medicine · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies