Changing Sentiments and the Magdalen Hospital

Luxury, Virtue and the Senses in Eighteenth-Century Culture

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, European, Nonfiction, History, British
Cover of the book Changing Sentiments and the Magdalen Hospital by Mary Peace, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Mary Peace ISBN: 9781315308333
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: November 25, 2016
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Mary Peace
ISBN: 9781315308333
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: November 25, 2016
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

This book charts the complex ideological territory of eighteenth-century sentimental discourse through the uniquely revealing lens of the London Magdalen Hospital for Penitent Prostitutes. The establishment of the London Magdalen House in 1758 is read as the cultural high watermark of sentimental confidence in the compatibility of virtue and commerce. It is the product of a whiggish, moral-sense discourse at its most ebullient and culturally authoritative. Equally visible, though, in this context, are the ideological limitations of moral-sense thinking and an anticipation of the ways in which its ideas ultimately failed to underwrite commercial virtue. Sentimental discourse fractures in the course of the mid-century: in part it becomes increasingly divorced from the world; retreating into a primitivist, proto-Romantic virtue which claims no purchase on "things as they are." Where sentimental vocabulary persists in a worldly context, it becomes divorced from a vocabulary of moral virtue. It is overlaid with a French usage where "sentiment" and "sensibility" describe exquisite emotion rather than refined and cultivated virtue.' Changing Sentiments and the Magdalen Hospital registers the fracturing and shifting ground of sentimental discourse in the changing institutional practise of the Magdalen institution, most particularly in its increasingly embrace of evangelical religion.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

This book charts the complex ideological territory of eighteenth-century sentimental discourse through the uniquely revealing lens of the London Magdalen Hospital for Penitent Prostitutes. The establishment of the London Magdalen House in 1758 is read as the cultural high watermark of sentimental confidence in the compatibility of virtue and commerce. It is the product of a whiggish, moral-sense discourse at its most ebullient and culturally authoritative. Equally visible, though, in this context, are the ideological limitations of moral-sense thinking and an anticipation of the ways in which its ideas ultimately failed to underwrite commercial virtue. Sentimental discourse fractures in the course of the mid-century: in part it becomes increasingly divorced from the world; retreating into a primitivist, proto-Romantic virtue which claims no purchase on "things as they are." Where sentimental vocabulary persists in a worldly context, it becomes divorced from a vocabulary of moral virtue. It is overlaid with a French usage where "sentiment" and "sensibility" describe exquisite emotion rather than refined and cultivated virtue.' Changing Sentiments and the Magdalen Hospital registers the fracturing and shifting ground of sentimental discourse in the changing institutional practise of the Magdalen institution, most particularly in its increasingly embrace of evangelical religion.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Dynamics in the French Constitution by Mary Peace
Cover of the book The Nature of Thought by Mary Peace
Cover of the book Go To Market Strategy by Mary Peace
Cover of the book Masculine Shame by Mary Peace
Cover of the book Intergenerational Relationships by Mary Peace
Cover of the book East Asia and the Global Crisis by Mary Peace
Cover of the book Men's Work in Preventing Violence Against Women by Mary Peace
Cover of the book When Power Corrupts by Mary Peace
Cover of the book Wetlands: Market and Intervention Failures by Mary Peace
Cover of the book The Englishwoman's Review of Social and Industrial Questions by Mary Peace
Cover of the book Humanitarian Crises and Migration by Mary Peace
Cover of the book Space and Narrative in the Nineteenth-Century British Historical Novel by Mary Peace
Cover of the book Rich World, Poor World by Mary Peace
Cover of the book Fathers, Families and the Outside World by Mary Peace
Cover of the book The Passing of Arthur by Mary Peace
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy