Essay about Gender and Eighteenth Century

Submitted By jade_Adam
Words: 1934
Pages: 8
Open Document
Skip to main content
Reviews in History logo
Covering books and digital resources across all fields of history
Like us on FacebookFollow us on Twitter

ISSN 1749-8155
Fashioning Masculinity. National identity and language in the eighteenth centuryPrinter-friendly versionPDF version

Book:
Fashioning Masculinity. National identity and language in the eighteenth century
Michèle Cohen
London, Routledge, 1996, ISBN: 978041510735X; 192pp.; Price: £80.00
Reviewer:
Dr Robert B. Shoemaker
University of Sheffield
Citation:
Dr Robert B. Shoemaker, review of Fashioning Masculinity. National identity and language in the eighteenth century, (review no. 40)
URL: http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/40
Date accessed: 6 March, 2014
See Author's Response
Growing out of recent work on gender, scholars are now turning their attention to the history of masculinity. A key aspect of this subject is how masculinity is constructed, since, in the words of Michael Roper and John Tosh, 'masculinity is never fully possessed, but must perpetually be achieved, asserted and renegotiated'. The eighteenth century, a period frequently seen as pivotal in shaping modern gender roles for women, is providing fertile ground for historians of masculinity as well. In this clearly written and carefully argued book, Michèle Cohen investigates the role played by the French language and conceptions of otherness in shaping ideas about the education and self-fashioning of gentlemen in eighteenth and nineteenth-century England. Her initial concern was to explain how French came to be perceived as a 'female' language, as it is by school children today, but her research led her to investigate changes in gentlemanly ideals over the period from the late-seventeenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries.

The book starts in France, with an examination of the French concepts of politesse and the honnête homme in the seventeenth century, in which gentlemen were expected to perfect their social skills through conversation with women in the salons: not only would men learn from the refined and delicate discourse of women, but their own conversation would be improved by their efforts to please their female audience. In the late seventeenth century a similar, but not identical, code of conduct became influential in England, politeness, which also viewed the ability to converse in French, the universal language of European courts at the time, as an important skill. Once again women were expected to play a crucial role, but concerns were now expressed that overexposure to female conversation would make men effeminate, and this concern extended to the influence mothers exerted over their sons. One of the advantages of the Grand Tour, which became fashionable as a means of completing the education of young gentleman around the turn of the eighteenth century, was that it removed boys from their mothers. But there were worries that such travel could corrupt, and that by encouraging men to develop ornamental accomplishments for public display, the Grand Tour also rendered men effeminate. By the late eighteenth century, men were expected to spend less time honing skills for public display and were expected instead to develop their mental faculties and acquire the virtue of sincerity. Taciturnity, which had once been seen as typical fault of English gentlemen, now became 'the emblem of his self-discipline, and his strength – in other words, of his manliness' (p. 105).

As a consequence, learning French was now seen in a new light. Men were no longer expected to cultivate their tongues by learning foreign languages through conversation, and the attention shifted to studying grammar as a means of developing analytical skills. But French grammar was seen as too simple, and the foreign language education of boys (now taking place in public schools rather than on the Grand Tour) turned to Latin. Correspondingly, the teaching of French came to be associated predominantly
Show More

Related Documents: Essay about Gender and Eighteenth Century

Masculinity In Frankenstein

European history, the nurturing, care taking parental role has prominently been the employment of the mother. Gender roles have established and restricted the duties of parents: fathers are the breadwinners: mothers are the coddlers. Although these gender roles have not always been enforced in all parts of the world and all throughout history, they were prevalent in eighteenth century Europe. In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley explores the complexity of masculinity and femininity and the…

Words 934 - Pages 4

What Is Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's Description Of Marriage

Stretching from sociable conversations, and satiric epistles, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu became one of the most crucial female figure of the early eighteen century. As the eighteenth century was fascinated by the written word, Montagu expressed the themes of contemporary scandals by focusing on gender discrimination in publishing “Epistle From Mrs. Younge to her Husband” and “Epistle From Arthur Gray to Mrs. Murray”. In the first poem Montagu writes as Mrs. Younge, in protest to a familiar seducer…

Words 831 - Pages 4

How Does Haywood Present Women In The Baron's Suicide

These female figures are identified as victims to their oppressive patriarchal society, and Haywood’s treatment of the only man to die within the story, the Count’s friend Baron D’Espernay, shows further deviation from the expectations for female and male characters. This is especially evident in Alovysa’s match of wit and deceit against the Baron, as he expects sexual gratification from her in return for the reveal of her husband’s mistress, “you shall immediately know all; thy charms will force…

Words 1271 - Pages 6

Evelina Final Paper

In Evelina, Francis Burney examines the implications of the culture of politeness that flourished in the first half of the eighteenth century. She reveals the system of politeness, as a means to social reform, to be largely ineffectual. Burney depicts, quite well, what happens when people come together for the sole purpose of self-display. She examines the effects of a social system on various characters from various walks of life. Through various characters in Evelina, she makes arguments for the…

Words 2292 - Pages 10

Individualism In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

Women in history were challenged with expressing themselves in what was considered to be a man’s world that generally refused to allow worth to women's views. Cultural and political events during these centuries increased attention to women's issues such as education and by the end of the eighteenth century; women were increasingly able to speak out against prejudice. The role of women is one of the major themes of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. The three main female characters of the story help to show…

Words 599 - Pages 3

The Great Awakening Influence

of the eighteenth century, there was a spiritual awakening in the American colonies, especially New England. This would be known as The Great Awakening, it would prove to have great influence over the religious and cultural lives of Americans. In earlier generations, the youth that were coming of age, relied on the guidance of others to tell them what to do and how to live their lives. The clergy was some of the people depended on for this. During the first half of the eighteenth century though…

Words 474 - Pages 2

Ch 25 Notes Triangular Trade Essay

African States, 1500-1650 ©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2 The States of West Africa and East Africa   Developed over eighth to sixteenth centuries Kingdom of Ghana     Not related to modern State of Ghana Major gold trader Mali empire, thirteenth century Songhay empire, fifteenth century   Sunni Ali (r. 1464-1493) created effective army, navy Musket-bearing Moroccan army destroys Songhay forces; regional city-states exert local control ©2011, The McGraw-Hill…

Words 1480 - Pages 6

America Gender Roles

Introduction In reading the various plays that were written and performed during the eighteenth century time of restoration, many dealt with various vantage points concerning politics, roles of women, social status, wealth, and the concept and purpose of marriage. Sharing similar themes of people who lived in the cities, whom were expected to be more civilized and sophisticated versus those who resided in the country who were viewed to show a naiveté and unfashionable social status; the presence…

Words 1302 - Pages 6

Women's Rights Essays

yet she was supposed to be appealing to the man’s eye? That is not equality for women, especially when the male gets away with a bastard child. In Deputy Husbands Laurel Thatcher Ulrich describes the lives of women throughout the nineteenth century: Mary Beth Norton has carefully studied the claims of 468 loyalist’s women who were refugees in Great Britain after the American Revolution. Only forty-three of these women mentioned earning money on their own or even assisting directly in their…

Words 1668 - Pages 7

Research Paper Prohibition

Mary Louise Cecilia Guinan otherwise known as "Texas," by the state she was from was an actress and singer in the late 19th and early 20th Century. This gal was the operator of many ritzy speakeasies, though it could never be proven. She became a model for the others, as she was the best female in the business, no matter how many times the coppers shut down the drums, more would be established. Prohibition was a law that the U.S. should have never put into place because the younger generation became very rebellious…

Words 611 - Pages 3