Aristocratic women and ideas of family in the early eighteenth century

Tague, Ingrid H.

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511495694.010

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…As well as the relationship between aristocratic fathers and children, the relationships between aristocratic mothers and daughters were also shaped by the protection and transmission of land. 82 Women like Lady Anne Clifford, Countess of Pembroke, Dorset and Montgomery, and Henrietta Cavendish Harley, Countess of Oxford and Mortimer, for example, emulated the perseverance of their mothers when they came to take responsibility for the fight for their own inheritance. 83 Despite not receiving the informal training in matters of law and inheritance that many aristocratic women benefited from, Martha Janes took on the role of mother of aristocratic children and effectively used litigation to protect and defend her daughter's inheritance.…”

Section: Litigation Succession and Maternal Agencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender, property and succession in the early modern English aristocracy: the case of Martha Janes and her illegitimate children

Worthen

McDonagh

Capern

2019

Women's History Review

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This article addresses the boundaries of female power within early modern aristocratic families. It asks the question: could a woman's influence and authority with her husband and kin, and over matters of inheritance and succession, expand or contract through her abilityor notto have children? The focus of the article is the family arrangements of Lord Emmanuel Scroop whose marriage to Elizabeth Manners was childless. The research set out to uncover Lord Scroop's relationship with their servant, Martha Janes, the birth of four illegitimate children by this relationship, and the property litigation pursued by both wife and mistress after Lord Scroop left the family estates to these children. The article argues that the case of Janes and her children sheds light on the hidden histories of bastardy and property within aristocratic families. It investigates how Janes and her children ultimately played a central role in the inheritance and succession strategies of Lord Scroop, and examines how much importance aristocratic men attached to the concept of a legitimate male bloodline. The objective is to shine a light on economic and legal relationships in aristocratic families and reveal the relativeand relationalpower an unmarried woman could gain through maternity.

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Section: Litigation Succession and Maternal Agencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender, property and succession in the early modern English aristocracy: the case of Martha Janes and her illegitimate children

Worthen

McDonagh

Capern

2019

Women's History Review

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“…The lack of a royal heir was a source of anxiety and derision for the literary public, not unlike the concern felt by the gentry over fathering a son and continuing the male line. 72 The Coronation Ballad (1689), by nonjuring priest Ralph Gray, serves as a perfect example of anti-Williamite satire that exploited William's inability to produce an heir and achieve full patriarchal manhood. In addition to mocking the new king's appearance and accusing him of acting like a beast towards his father-in-law, Gray vilified William's sexuality taunting, "An unnatural beast to his father and uncle; / A churl to his wife without e'er a pintle;..." 73 This allusion to both William's wife and his penis ("pintle") has multiple meanings.…”

Section: The Childless and Effeminate Usurpermentioning

confidence: 99%

The print depiction of King William III’s masculinity

Brittan

2017

The Seventeenth Century

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Famous for his work on military subjects, Jan Wyck's use of symbolism and imagery in his portrait William III at the Battle of the Boyne (c.1690-1695) connotes overt messages about the recently crowned king's qualities. The portrait (Figure 1) depicts William III flourishing his sword while riding a white horse as the battle ensues around him. In the background, the clouds and smoke are just beginning to part as cavalry charge down the hill. The blue sash of the Order of the Garter, the highest order of chivalry in England, can be seen across his chest. Wyck presents William as a brave, hardy, and heroic British commander. His calm expression astride the rearing white horse (a common trope for heroic princes and chivalric knights) suggests a natural authority and ease. Portraits such as this depicting scenes of William's military glory and feats of arms presented William as an overtly masculine military hero. It celebrates the masculine qualities that his military prowess conveyed. Even more accessible depictions of William's character came in the form of the burgeoning medium of print. As much a function of easily applicable norms as a reflection of actual agency, Williamite writers, usually Whigs, deliberately fashioned him as England's Protestant warrior-king and a constitutional monarch. 1 Investigating the importance of public image and its connection to monarchical power in his seminal text,

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“…In this way, women who were skilled in politeness could use it for their own ends and gain relative freedom from a restrictively idealized form of femininity. 64 For example, many heroines in Jane Austen's novels deviate from the feminine ideal in various ways, but their knowledge of politeness still renders them respectable. Mary Crawford in Mansfield Park is a forward, masculine tomboy who boasts about her strength and riding skills, while her harp-playing and demure looks still make her 'perfectly feminine'.…”

Section: Cultural Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Polite Foucault? Eighteenth-Century Politeness as a Disciplinary System and Practice of the Self

Ylivuori

2014

Cultural History

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Even though eighteenth-century politeness as a means of creating identity has recently been under much scholarly investigation, it has not been properly considered using theoretical approaches of identity and subjectivity as aids of analysis. This article examines politeness within two Foucauldian theoretical frameworks: as a disciplinary system and as an enabling practice of the self. The first approach sheds light on politeness as a kind of panopticon – an apparatus of power/knowledge, producing normative identity through constant surveillance. The second approach examines politeness from the individual's perspective, mapping out strategies of assuming and building polite subjectivity. My argument is that eighteenth-century politeness was not only a normalizing system of power, but also a practice of individuality and freedom. From this basis, I claim that a Foucauldian theoretical approach provides a fruitful new reading of politeness, opening up new areas of research.

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Aristocratic women and ideas of family in the early eighteenth century

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Gender, property and succession in the early modern English aristocracy: the case of Martha Janes and her illegitimate children

Gender, property and succession in the early modern English aristocracy: the case of Martha Janes and her illegitimate children

The print depiction of King William III’s masculinity

A Polite Foucault? Eighteenth-Century Politeness as a Disciplinary System and Practice of the Self

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