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British Library: Discovering Literature: Sentiment and Sensibility
This article introduces Richard Brinsley Sheridan and his famous play "The School for Scandal".
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British Library: Discovering Literature: Print and Perception
Margaret Cavendish and Katherine Philips both wrote across a range of genres and achieved considerable success in their day. This article explores their different approaches to the difficulties of being a 17th-century female writer.
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British Library: Discovering Literature: The 'Stuff' of Tristram Shandy
Dashes, loops, wiggles, and blanks: this article investigates the visual oddities of Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy.
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British Library: Discovering Literature: The Rise of the Novel
This article explains how the novel took shape in the 18th century with the works of Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, and Laurence Sterne, and how the book industry responded to the new genre.
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British Library: Discovering Literature: The Rise of Cities in the 18th Century
Cities expanded rapidly in 18th-century Britain, with people flocking to them for work. This article explores the impact on street life and living conditions in London and the expanding industrial cities of the north.
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British Library: Discovering Literature: Frances Burney's Account of Her 'Terrible Operation'
The diarist and novelist Frances Burney was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1810 and wrote an account of her 'terrible operation' for her sisters. Jenni Murray considers why this is one of the most courageous pieces of writing she has...
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British Library: Discovering Literature: Britain's Involvement With New World Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
With a focus on the 17th and 18th centuries, this article traces the history of Britain's large-scale involvement in the enslavement of Africans and the transatlantic slave trade.
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British Library: Discovering Literature: Georgian Entertainment: From Pleasure Gardens to Blood Sports
This article examines the variety of entertainment and leisure activities enjoyed in Georgian Britain.
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British Library: Discovering Literature: Popular Politics in the 18th Century
Caricatures capturing public opinion and riots on the streets; this article discusses how the majority of Georgians, who didn't have the right to vote, engaged in politics and expressed their grievances.
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British Library: Discovering Literature: Newspapers, Gossip, and Coffee House Culture
This article explains how the coffee-house came to occupy a central place in 17th and 18th-century English culture and commerce, offering an alternative to rowdy pubs and more formal places of business and politics.
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British Library: Discovering Literature: Neoclassicism
Writers and craftsmen including Alexander Pope, John Dryden, Jonathan Swift, and Josiah Wedgwood found inspiration in the classical period. This article explores how their works adopted the style, genres, aesthetic values, and subjects...
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British Library: Discovering Literature: Letters, Letter Writing and Epistolary Novels
This article explores the real and fictional letters published in the 18th century, from the correspondence of Alexander Pope and Ignatius Sancho to Samuel Richardson's hugely popular epistolary novel "Pamela" and the works it inspired.
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British Library: Discovering Literature: Abolition of the Slave Trade and Slavery in Britain
Towards the end of the 18th century, a movement emerged calling for an end to the slave trade and, later, slavery itself. This article traces the road to abolition from the 1780s to the 1830s, highlighting the impacts of grass-root...
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British Library: Discovering Literature: An Introduction to the Beggar's Opera
"The Beggar's Opera" was an instant hit and became the most performed play of the 18th century. This article explores the elements that made up John Gay's work, from its popular tunes and dances to its satirical targets and depiction of...
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British Library: Discovering Literature: An Introduction to Restoration Comedy
This article introduces the characters, conventions, and historical context of Restoration comedy, and explores what the genre has to say about gender, courtship, and class.
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British Library: Discovering Literature: An Introduction to Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded
"Pamela", or "Virtue Rewarded" evolved from a collection of model letters into a bestselling novel. This article introduces Samuel Richardson's work and its exploration of gender, class, sexual harassment, and marriage.
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British Library: Discovering Literature: An Introduction to Evelina
Frances Burney's "Evelina" unveils the dizzying and dangerous social whirl of Georgian London, where reputations and marriages are there to be made and broken. This article investigates Burney's critique of fashion culture and the...
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British Library: Discovering Literature: Female 'Soveraynetee' in Chaucer's 'The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale'
This article explores the character of the Wife of Bath and the ambiguity surrounding her outspoken views on marriage, power, and religious doctrine.
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British Library: Discovering Literature: The Life of the Anchoress
During the medieval period, hundreds of women chose a life of prayer and contemplation, shut up alone in a cell. This article explains the path to becoming an anchoress, how anchoresses spent their days, and what medieval texts such as...
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British Library: Discovering Literature: The Elegies of the Exeter Book
The poems in the Exeter Book known as the 'Old English elegies' focus on loss, separation, and the transience of earthly things. This article explores these poems, which include The Wanderer and The Wife's Lament, and highlights the...
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British Library: Discovering Literature: The Exeter Book Riddles in Context
The Exeter Book, compiled by 10th-century clerics, contains a number of surprisingly euphemistic riddles. This article explores what these bawdy puzzles tell us about sex and gender in Anglo-Saxon England.
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British Library: Discovering Literature: Saints and Sanctity in Medieval England
This article explores how medieval Europeans memorialized the lives of real and fictional Christian saints, transforming them into superheroes and celebrities of the Middle Ages.
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British Library: Discovering Literature: Women's Voices in the Medieval Period
Drawing on examples from Margery Kempe, Julian of Norwich, and Christine de Pizan, this article looks at the experiences of women as writers and producers of texts in the medieval period and reflects on the survival of their works.
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British Library: Discovering Literature: Saracens and Racial Otherness in Middle English Romance
This article considers how 'Saracen' characters are portrayed in Middle English romances, and what these texts can reveal about ideas of Otherness in this period.
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