Being a single woman in the eighteenth century could be hard work. Ideally, you would marry an old, rich man who would die whilst you were still young leaving you a wealthy, independent widow. Sadly, this only worked out for a few fortunate women. Most women were left emotionally and financially vulnerable after the death … Continue reading
Tea was an important commodity in the eighteenth century. As I’ve read more than my fair share of tea-related historical research over the last few months, I thought I’d share five of my favourite tea facts from the eighteenth century. When tea was first introduced to England it was drunk out of small, round bowls … Continue reading
This intriguing painting was created by prolific genre painter William Redmore Bigg in the 1790s. The painting was put on display at the Royal Academy of Art in 1793 with the title, Poor Old Woman’s Comforts. William Redmore Bigg was well known for his moralistic depictions of country life, he often chose to paint … Continue reading
You may know a variation on the following rhyme: Lucy Locket lost her pocket, Kitty Fisher found it, Not a penny was there in it, Only ribbon round it. This post is about the courtesan who (inappropriately) inspired this children’s rhyme. I am also paying special attention to a beautiful painting of her captured … Continue reading
I recently had a massive clear-out and unsentimentally chucked out all my old university notes. Or rather, I have three years worth of notes sitting in plastic bags in my room because they wouldn’t fit in the recycling (*sigh*). I came across some work I had done on sexuality and gender in a couple of … Continue reading
Of all our favourite Words lately none has been more in Vogue, nor so long held its Esteem as that of TASTE. The Universal Spectator (1747) The concept of ‘taste’ was tremendously important in Georgian society. Taste was used to assess fashion, behaviour, and design. The architecture, decoration, and contents of a house, the clothes … Continue reading
Though acclaimed authors, poets, and playwrights are often remembered and discussed decades, if not centuries, after they have ceased to write (or, indeed, live), actors are rarely make even a footnote in an essay on this or that. The ephemeral nature of their art, unrecorded until very recently, has much to do with the inevitable … Continue reading
Bluebeard is an odd fairy tale. Unremarkably, for anyone who knows the tale, it has not managed to join its more child-friendly fellows in the Disney hall of fame. Though many of us know that the original Cinderella involved slicing parts off young women’s feet and eyes being pecked out by birds, the discovery of … Continue reading
One May evening in 1817 a young builder called Abraham Thornton met 20-year-old Mary Ashford at a dance. Mary’s body was found the next morning, she had drowned in a pit. Abraham was soon charged with murder and rape. Though those involved didn’t yet know it, this was to be a case to go down … Continue reading
This is the second post in my series on T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land (1922). It’s a poem that I never managed to study, but which has always intrigued me. These posts are a record of my attempts to get to grips with one of the most revolutionary poems of all time. Click here … Continue reading
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