Rethinking Gender and Virtue through Richardson's Domestic Accounting

Roxburgh, Natalie

doi:10.3138/ecf.24.3.403

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Progressive ideology targets the rapprochement between members of different stratification and the possibility of their convergence and marriage that entails social mobility when someone elevates his or her social class and demands inclusion in the new social circle. Roxburgh (2012) supposes that Pamela's comportment of rejecting Mr. B.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtue and Progressive Ideology: Destabilizing Social Class in Richardson’s Pamela and Fielding’s Joseph Andrews

Alsoud

2023

tpls

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This essay investigates Richardson and Fielding’s projection of social mobility and the intrinsic conditionality of virtue and honor that is essential for social transformation. Maintaining a virtuous status among morally corrupt people destabilizes the established stereotypical view of social hierarchy and incites some aristocratic people’s passion for their servants, violating the consolidation of social class boundaries. Pursuant to the principles of the progressive ideology, some members of the upper class authoritatively thwart endeavors for upward mobility, except for social progression coupled with moral standing and good reputation that is propitiously received with communal acceptance and approbation. Therefore, the novels entail that values of good ethics, chastity, and piety become fundamental requirements for maintaining and enhancing social standing regardless of any prospective deterioration in the material situation. Both novels resist the ideology that honor as virtue is an inherited value that is vested in a certain class by ancestry and heredity. Contrary to this supposition, both contexts associate moral corruption with social degradation and document it historically to reform sinful practices and immodesty. Finally, the authors aspire for ideal societies where the holders of virtue and honor should be rewarded for resisting moral corruption, the allure of materialism, and the greed of capitalism.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtue and Progressive Ideology: Destabilizing Social Class in Richardson’s Pamela and Fielding’s Joseph Andrews

Alsoud

2023

tpls

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“…In Clarissa , the heroine is prepared for the role of estate manager as her accounting skills are praised by both her grandfather and her uncle (Richardson, 2004, 1414, 155; Richardson, 1751, 8.205).Clarissa’s will follows the structure of an inventory that carefully accounts for all the items in the estate, including the sum ‘accrued from that estate since my grandfather’s death’ and ‘all the family pictures’ (Richardson, 2004,1414). Natalie Roxburgh has shown that the practice of keeping an account book became part of women’s education and was associated with the ability to account for oneself economically and spiritually (Roxburgh, 2012, 403–429). Clarissa´s view of the inheritance focuses on the responsibility and duty involved.…”

Section: Clarissa’s Willmentioning

confidence: 99%

Possessed by property: Inheritance in Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa (1747–1748)

Cortese

2021

Orbis Litterarum

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The inheritance conflict in Samuel Richardson´s novel Clarissa (1747–1748) has been read as staging the clash between two different class ideologies and as an expression of the dead’s posthumous agency exerted on the living. I argue that the novel’s two wills ultimately serve to make a broader point about inheritance. I contend that Richardson´s complex treatment of the effects of each will on each member of the Harlowe family underscores the problematic nature of inheritance as a gift. I compare the novel’s two wills in light of Marcel Mauss’s work on gift‐exchange to discuss how Richardson engages with inheritance as a gift that confirms or reorganises familial hierarchies and imposes an obligation on the heir. Reading the novel in terms of the way in which inheritance places the heir in the position of caretaker that they cannot be released from until their death, offers a different reading of Clarissa’s reluctance to refer to herself as the possessor of the estate in the novel. My reading of the novel moves beyond the novel’s inheritance dispute to provide insight into the circular and problematic nature of inheritance as gift. While attention has been paid to the power that the testator or donor possesses in bequeathing their inheritance, less attention has been paid to what it means to receive such a gift.

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“…"Rethinking Gender and Virtue through Richardson's Domestic Accounting" (Roxburgh, 2012). In her article, Roxburgh presents a unique analysis of Samuel Richardson's novel Pamela by examining the representation of domestic accounting in the story.…”

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confidence: 99%

Gender Dynamics, Social Norms, and Erotic Attitudes in Eighteenth-Century England: A Comparative Study of Anti-Pamela and Fanny Hill

Alatrash

2023

jltr

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This paper examines two influential novels of the 18th century, Eliza Haywood's Anti-Pamela and John Cleland's Fanny Hill: or, the Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, to offer insights into the social norms, gender roles, and erotic attitudes of the time. Through a comparative analysis of the two works, this paper highlights their distinct literary traditions, concerns, and perspectives on the issues of eroticism, virtue, and gender relations. The study finds that while Haywood's Anti-Pamela critiques the excesses of the materialistic and libertine culture of the time, Cleland's Fanny Hill challenges the concept of virtue and decorum by emphasizing the complexities of human erotic desire. The paper argues that the two works offer unique and valuable perspectives on the social and cultural landscape of 18th century England, contributing to the ongoing debates on gender, social inequality, and erotic exploitation. This study provides a better understanding of the literary and cultural history of the 18th century and its relevance to contemporary discussions on the issues of gender and eroticism.

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Rethinking Gender and Virtue through Richardson's Domestic Accounting

Cited by 3 publications

References 16 publications

Virtue and Progressive Ideology: Destabilizing Social Class in Richardson’s Pamela and Fielding’s Joseph Andrews

Virtue and Progressive Ideology: Destabilizing Social Class in Richardson’s Pamela and Fielding’s Joseph Andrews

Possessed by property: Inheritance in Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa (1747–1748)

Gender Dynamics, Social Norms, and Erotic Attitudes in Eighteenth-Century England: A Comparative Study of Anti-Pamela and Fanny Hill

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