Title Sex, money & personal character in eighteenth-century British politics / Marilyn Morris

Published [New Haven, CT] : Yale University Press, 2014

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Description 1 online resource Series Lewis Walpole Series in Eighteenth-Century culture and history Lewis Walpole series in eighteenth-century culture and history. Contents Machine generated contents note: 1. Political and the Personal -- 2. Politics of Personal Character -- 3. Measure of Men -- 4. Court, Courtship and Domestic Virtue -- 5. Ethics of Fashion, Spending, Credit and Debt -- 6. Views from the Peripheries of the Political World -- 7. Persistence of Casuistry Summary How, and why, did the Anglo-American world become so obsessed with the private lives and public character of its political leaders? Marilyn Morris finds answers in eighteenth-century Britain, when a long tradition of court intrigue and gossip spread into a much broader and more public political arena with the growth of political parties, extra-parliamentary political activities, and a partisan print culture. The public's preoccupation with the personal character of the ruling elite paralleled a growing interest in the interior lives of individuals in histories, novels, and the theater. Newspaper reports of the royal family intensified in intimacy and its members became moral exemplars--most often, paradoxically, when they misbehaved. Ad hominem attacks on political leaders became commonplace; politicians of all affiliations continued to assess one another's characters based on their success and daring with women and money. And newly popular human-interest journalism promoted the illusion that the personal characters of public figures could be read by appearances.--Provided by publisher Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Vendor-supplied metadata Subject Press and politics -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century Journalism -- Political aspects -- England -- History HISTORY -- Europe -- Great Britain. Politics and government Journalism -- Political aspects Press and politics SUBJECT Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 18th century. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85056900 Subject England Great Britain Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 9780300210477 0300210477 0300208456 9780300208450

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