Hanley-Smith, Natalie (2020) The ménage-à-trois and other controversial relationships, c. 1780 – 1840. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

PDF WRAP_Theses_Hanley-Smith_2020.pdf - Submitted Version Embargoed item. Restricted access to Repository staff only until 27 September 2022. Contact author directly, specifying your specific needs. - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (2717Kb)

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

This thesis analyses controversial relationships between men and women in late Georgian England. It examines a range of different attachments, including adulterous affairs, affinal intimacies, cohabiting relationships, and ménages-à-trois. Historiography on heterosexual and marital deviance has tended to focus on the more extreme end of the spectrum, and thus emphasises the high-profile sex scandals and publicity surrounding adultery and divorce litigation that boomed over this period.

This thesis addresses gaps in this scholarship by exploring a wider range of emotional and erotic intimacies that were transgressive according to contemporary marital and heterosexual norms. It also takes a more holistic approach compared to other studies by analysing the impact that being controversial had on an individual’s domestic, familial, social, and public worlds. The chapters are structured according to these different spheres. This thesis draws upon examples from aristocratic Whig society and several literary networks that existed on the margins of the middle classes between c. 1780-1840. By analysing these small and insular societies this thesis explores the multitude of factors that influenced how people conducted their social and personal relationships. It examines correspondence, diaries, novels, satirical prints, in addition to articles and paragraphs that were printed in contemporary newspapers and journals. Drawing on methodologies from anthropology, literary studies, and the history of emotions, it uses this broad source base to improve our understanding of the exchanges between the complex cultural macrocosm and social interactions.

The late Georgian period has been portrayed as an era of change, which included shifts in concepts of political power and social order, as well as in ideas about marriage, love, and intimacy. A number of the relationships I examine involve people who were prominent in public life, with the result that their private lives often developed political significance and were used to criticise and disparage them-both as individuals and as a community. Such pressure increased the strain on these people’s social and familial relationships and did so at a time they were facing new challenges caused by a transforming social, political and cultural terrain.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Interpersonal relations -- England -- History -- 18th century, Interpersonal relations -- England -- History -- 19th century, Adultery -- England -- History -- 18th century, Adultery -- England -- History -- 19th century, Unmarried couples -- England -- History -- 18th century, Unmarried couples -- England -- History -- 19th century
Official Date:	April 2020
Dates:	Date Event April 2020 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of History
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Richardson, Sarah ; Philp, Mark
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	vii, 357 leaves : colour illustrations
Language:	eng

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item