DOCSLIB.ORG

Female Characters in the Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama Master’S Diploma Thesis

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Female Characters in the Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama Master’S Diploma Thesis Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Bc. Petra Spurná Female Characters in the Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama Master’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: doc. Mgr. Pavel Drábek, Ph. D. 2012 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Author’s signature Acknowledgement: I would like to thank my supervisor doc. Mgr. Pavel Drábek, PhD. for his patience and his valuable advice. Table of Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 2. Ancient Greek and Roman Influences .......................................................................... 9 2.1 Ancient Greece ....................................................................................................... 9 2.1.1. Women and their Social Position ..................................................................... 10 2.1.2 Women and Theatre ......................................................................................... 14 2.1.3 Women and Tragedy ......................................................................................... 15 2.1.4 Euripides ............................................................................................................ 18 2.1.5 Euripides in Early Modern England ................................................................... 22 2.2 Roman influence .................................................................................................. 25 2.2.1 Virgil .................................................................................................................. 25 2.2.2 Ovid ................................................................................................................... 28 2.2.3 Seneca ............................................................................................................... 31 3. Italian Influences ........................................................................................................ 39 3.1 Defences of Women ............................................................................................. 40 3.2 Ludovico Ariosto ................................................................................................... 43 3.3 Tragicomedy and Pastoral .................................................................................... 48 3.4 Transporting Tragicomedy: Commedia dell’Arte ................................................. 52 4. The Early Modern England ......................................................................................... 56 4.1 Elizabethan Era ..................................................................................................... 56 4.1.1 The History of English Drama ............................................................................ 61 4.1.2 University Plays ................................................................................................. 65 4.1.3 University Wits .................................................................................................. 70 4.1.4 William Shakespeare ......................................................................................... 75 4.2 Jacobean Era ......................................................................................................... 81 4.2.1 Jacobean Revenge Tragedy ............................................................................... 83 4.2.2 City Comedy and Domestic Tragedy ................................................................. 92 5. Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 95 Works Cited .................................................................................................................... 97 Résumé (Czech) ............................................................................................................ 102 Résumé (English) .......................................................................................................... 103 1. Introduction The Elizabethan and Jacobean times were important for the English drama – especially because it did not exist as a proper literary genre before the sixteenth century. It evolved from the church liturgy through Miracles and Moralities, to Interludes, short plays with simple plots. But all these dramatic “genres” provided nothing more than stock characters. The important step came with the influence of Classical drama. At first it was the Latin drama because no translation was needed and the plays were also better preserved, but later in the sixteenth century the Greek plays were discovered and through translation into Latin or through Italian adaptations they got to England. The writers started to imitate the classical plays and thus all the great ancient heroines appeared in the Early Modern drama. And while the playwrights were trying new improvements, the plays were performed in front of audiences who played an important part in deciding what kind of comedies or tragedies should be written. The use of Latin became less popular, so the first proper plays in vernacular appeared. But the evolution of drama was not so simple. It mirrored socio-political background, religious and philosophical thoughts and – in the case of female characters – the position of women and men in the patriarchal society. The aim of this thesis is then to follow this evolution of female dramatic characters and to prove that every step in the evolution was important and that the continuity of Classical and Early Modern worlds together with the still existing strong influences of the Medieval Ages were the conditions needed for this evolution. This thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter is called “Ancient Greek and Roman Influences”. It is divided into two subchapters regarding the two countries end eras which they describe. The Greek subchapter is then divided into five 1 parts – “Women and their Social Position” provides background for the Greek drama – during the fifth century BCE the first drama developed in Athens and it is important to understand the social position of women in those times because the female characters that emerged in this period oftentimes provided a critical standpoint to some of the social problems. This part describes the changes connected to women‟s social status – in this era they became a marginalised group restricted to the private sphere. Also the philosophical trends described women as inferior to men – the Pythagoreans invented the division of the Universe into binary oppositions and created thus a long-lasting argument for the deficiency of women and their morals. This division also led to appearance of double standards for male and female behaviour. The second part, “Women and Theatre” describes the reality of women as theatregoers. While they were restricted from many public events, they were allowed to go to a theatrical festival called the Great Dionysia. This festival was important as the greatest dramatists of the era competed with their plays to gain popularity and prizes. The fact that women were allowed to these performances shows that as a part of the audience they could be addressed by the dramatists. The third part is called “Women and Tragedy” and it discusses the problematic issue of a female character becoming a protagonist of a play – women were supposed to stay in the private sphere, the oikos, while the plays were set outside the oikos – it means that the female character has to transgress her gender role and step out into the public sphere. When that happens, she becomes masculine in her behaviour, which is enacted through language and the values she honours – this practice questioned the validity of binary opposites and gender division – if a woman was able to act as a man than the gender attributes seemed to be social constructs rather than something inherent in the sex. The fourth part called simply “Euripides” deals with one of the greatest classic dramatists who was also described as a social critic even by his 2 contemporaries. His plays were popular yet did not achieve many awards and a possible reason for this fact can be his interest in marginalized groups of the society – women and slaves. He gave them voice and features (or even virtues) that were not generally attributed to them and he also showed that the social status is not natural but imposed by the culture. The last part of the Greek subchapter deals with the appearance of Euripides‟ plays in the Early Modern era and their influence. The whole subchapter is greatly indebted to the authors of the Introduction to the Women on the Edge because they provided extensive background information for the research on Greek theatre and women – many works on Greek drama leave out women not only as an important historical group that was the first to live in the strictly divided world of patriarchal power, but also as dramatic characters, even though they were the originals for many later characters. And without Euripides‟ comments on the social status of women put into the mouths of his female characters it is a question if there would be any strong and outspoken female character created even hundreds of centuries later. The Roman subchapter is divided into three parts – “Virgil”, “Ovid” and “Seneca”. These authors were selected as the most influential for the appearance
Load more

Recommended publications
  • English Renaissance
    1 ENGLISH RENAISSANCE Unit Structure: 1.0 Objectives 1.1 The Historical Overview 1.2 The Elizabethan and Jacobean Ages 1.2.1 Political Peace and Stability 1.2.2 Social Development 1.2.3 Religious Tolerance 1.2.4 Sense and Feeling of Patriotism 1.2.5 Discovery, Exploration and Expansion 1.2.6 Influence of Foreign Fashions 1.2.7 Contradictions and Set of Oppositions 1.3 The Literary Tendencies of the Age 1.3.1 Foreign Influences 1.3.2 Influence of Reformation 1.3.3 Ardent Spirit of Adventure 1.3.4 Abundance of Output 1.4 Elizabethan Poetry 1.4.1 Love Poetry 1.4.2 Patriotic Poetry 1.4.3 Philosophical Poetry 1.4.4 Satirical Poetry 1.4.5 Poets of the Age 1.4.6 Songs and Lyrics in Elizabethan Poetry 1.4.7 Elizabethan Sonnets and Sonneteers 1.5 Elizabethan Prose 1.5.1 Prose in Early Renaissance 1.5.2 The Essay 1.5.3 Character Writers 1.5.4 Religious Prose 1.5.5 Prose Romances 2 1.6 Elizabethan Drama 1.6.1 The University Wits 1.6.2 Dramatic Activity of Shakespeare 1.6.3 Other Playwrights 1.7. Let‘s Sum up 1.8 Important Questions 1.0. OBJECTIVES This unit will make the students aware with: The historical and socio-political knowledge of Elizabethan and Jacobean Ages. Features of the ages. Literary tendencies, literary contributions to the different of genres like poetry, prose and drama. The important writers are introduced with their major works. With this knowledge the students will be able to locate the particular works in the tradition of literature, and again they will study the prescribed texts in the historical background.
    [Show full text]
  • Violence in Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama Linwood Clay Powers III
    University of Richmond UR Scholarship Repository Master's Theses Student Research 8-1969 Violence in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama Linwood Clay Powers III Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.richmond.edu/masters-theses Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Powers, Linwood Clay III, "Violence in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama" (1969). Master's Theses. Paper 866. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. VIOLmlOE IM ELIZABE"rHAN AND J.ACOBEAU DRAHA Lll1WOOD CLAY POWERS Ill A THESIS SUBMI'l'TED TO 'l'HE GRADUATE FACULTY OF THE UNIVEHSITY OF P.Imn10no IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DIDREE OF MASTER OF ARTS AUGUST 1969 Introduction Elizabethan and Jooobea.n tragedy contains some of the most violent scenes in the history of English drama. Dif!'erent playwrights treat their potentially' violent themes in di££erent manners; there!'ore, this paper will exandne· the tJ'l)es 0£ violence employed by the different dramatists. In dealing with a. subject as broad in scope as this one, it is necessary to limit the study to a. sel.ection of key- dramatists. The drWll3.tists -were selected because they re.fleet a certain t.ype of drama. which was prevalent during their careers. For example, Kyd t-ms the earliest to deal with revenge tragedy1 Marlowe used the super villain as the pro.
    [Show full text]
  • SESSION DE JUIN 2018 / Du 4 Au 15 Juin 2018
    SESSION DE JUIN 2018 / Du 4 au 15 juin 2018 EXAMEN : Civilisation B/EN .......................................... NUM. : BT0274 ........ TITULAIRE : Stuart Coe ................................................................................ ___________________________________________________________ There are TWO parts to this exam. Part One (40 marks) Answer one of the questions below. Please give examples and your opinion where appropriate. 1. How has invasion affected the history of Britain? 2. Was the Elizabethan era a golden age for England? 3. How does the education system in England differ from that of your own country? Do you think it is better? Why/Why not? 4. How does class affect the lives of British people? 5. What were the consequences for the British of winning the Second World War? 6. Who are the most important British prime ministers of the 20th century? Why? Part Two (20 marks) Put a tick or a cross next to the right answer. 1. Which Roman emperor conquered Britain? o Augustus o Nero o Caligula o Claudius 2. The Romans almost lost Britain as a province following an uprising led by: o Boudicca o Calgacus o Vercingetorix o Asterix 3. Who is the only English king to be given the title of 'the Great'? o Alfred o Canute o Egbert o Edward 4. Who instructed the waves to go back? o King Canute o King Henry V o Queen Victoria o King Alfred the Great 5. William the Conqueror defeated King Harold at the: o battle of Bosworth o battle of Marston Moor o battle of Crecy o battle of Hastings 6. In 1215 King John signed the Magna Carta, which stated that no free man could be: o tried by a jury o executed by the king o punished except through the law of the land o arrested by the sheriff of Nottingham if dressed as a chicken 7.
    [Show full text]
  • Galloping Onto the Throne: Queen Elizabeth I and the Symbolism of the Horse
    Heidegger 1 Galloping onto the Throne: Queen Elizabeth I and the Symbolism of the Horse University of California, San Diego, Department of History, Undergraduate Honors Thesis By: Hannah von Heidegger Advisor: Ulrike Strasser, Ph.D. April 2019 Heidegger 2 Introduction As she prepared for the impending attack of the Spanish Armada, Queen Elizabeth I of England purportedly proclaimed proudly while on horseback to her troops, “I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too.”1 This line superbly captures the two identities that Elizabeth had to balance as a queen in the early modern period: the limitations imposed by her sex and her position as the leader of England. Viewed through the lens of stereotypical gender expectations in the early modern period, these two roles appear incompatible. Yet, Elizabeth I successfully managed the unique path of a female monarch with no male counterpart. Elizabeth was Queen of England from the 17th of November 1558, when her half-sister Queen Mary passed away, until her own death from sickness on March 24th, 1603, making her one of England’s longest reigning monarchs. She deliberately avoided several marriages, including high-profile unions with Philip II of Spain, King Eric of Sweden, and the Archduke Charles of Austria. Elizabeth’s position in her early years as ruler was uncertain due to several factors: a strong backlash to the rise of female rulers at the time; her cousin Mary Queen of Scots’ Catholic hereditary claim; and her being labeled a bastard by her father, Henry VIII.
    [Show full text]
  • Lec-4 History of Social Welfare Developments in the UK
    Topic 3 THE HISTORY OF AND DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE IN THE UK: The history of social welfare in the UK had gone through various phases Before the Old Poor Law: ✓ During the early 1500s, the English government made little effort to address the needs of the poor. ✓ Rather, the poor were taken care of by Christians who were undertaking the seven-corporal works of mercy. ✓ These were deeds aimed to remove the worries and distress of those in need in accordance with their religious teachings. ▪ feed the hungry ▪ give drink to the thirsty ▪ welcome the stranger ▪ clothe the naked ▪ visit the sick ▪ visit the prisoner ▪ bury the dead ✓ The main formal organizations were the Church and the monasteries (a place reserved for prayer which may be a chapel, church or temple, or reserved for monks or nuns). The operation of charity made it possible for some poor people to survive if they left the land and came to the cities. ✓ However, when the Reformation1 happened, many people stopped following this Christian practice and the poor began to suffer greatly. ✓ The poverty and the begging were the ultimate problems followed by the Reformation. In 1531 Henry VI issued license for begging in restricted areas; punishment was given to those who violated the law. ✓ Poverty was one of the major problems Elizabeth faced during her rule. During this period the number of unemployed people grew considerably for a 1 The Reformation was a movement in Western Europe that aimed at reforming the doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church The Monasteries had been dissolved by King Henry VIII in the years following 1536, this source of aid was no longer available to the poor.
    [Show full text]
  • Going Commercial: Agency in 17Th Century English Drama
    GOING COMMERCIAL: AGENCY IN 17TH CENTURY ENGLISH DRAMA by KARL F. MCKIMPSON A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of English and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2016 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Karl F. McKimpson Title: Going Commercial: Agency in 17th Century English Drama This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of English by: Dianne Dugaw Chairperson George Rowe Core Member Ben Saunders Core Member Alexandre Albert-Galtier Institutional Representative and Scott L. Pratt Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded March 2016 ii © 2016 Karl F. McKimpson This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (United States) License. iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Karl F. McKimpson Doctor of Philosophy Department of English March 2016 Title: Going Commercial: Agency in 17th Century English Drama This dissertation’s aim is to reveal how essential economic mechanics were to playwrights when it came to depicting agency. Rising commercialization in the seventeenth century prompted playwrights to appropriate market behaviors in London as a new discourse for agency. Commerce serves as a metaphor for every part of daily life, and a new kind of “commercial” agency evolves that predicates autonomy upon the exchange networks in which a person participates. Initially, this new agency appears as a variation on the trickster. By the end of the century, playwrights have created a new model for autonomy and a new kind of hero to employ it: the entrepreneur.
    [Show full text]
  • Schuler Dissertation Final Document
    COUNSEL, POLITICAL RHETORIC, AND THE CHRONICLE HISTORY PLAY: REPRESENTING COUNCILIAR RULE, 1588-1603 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Anne-Marie E. Schuler, B.M., M.A. Graduate Program in English The Ohio State University 2011 Dissertation Committee: Professor Richard Dutton, Advisor Professor Luke Wilson Professor Alan B. Farmer Professor Jennifer Higginbotham Copyright by Anne-Marie E. Schuler 2011 ABSTRACT This dissertation advances an account of how the genre of the chronicle history play enacts conciliar rule, by reflecting Renaissance models of counsel that predominated in Tudor political theory. As the texts of Renaissance political theorists and pamphleteers demonstrate, writers did not believe that kings and queens ruled by themselves, but that counsel was required to ensure that the monarch ruled virtuously and kept ties to the actual conditions of the people. Yet, within these writings, counsel was not a singular concept, and the work of historians such as John Guy, Patrick Collinson, and Ann McLaren shows that “counsel” referred to numerous paradigms and traditions. These theories of counsel were influenced by a variety of intellectual movements including humanist-classical formulations of monarchy, constitutionalism, and constructions of a “mixed monarchy” or a corporate body politic. Because the rhetoric of counsel was embedded in the language that men and women used to discuss politics, I argue that the plays perform a kind of cultural work, usually reserved for literature, that reflects, heightens, and critiques political life and the issues surrounding conceptions of conciliar rule.
    [Show full text]
  • Sidney, Shakespeare, and the Elizabethans in Caroline England
    Textual Ghosts: Sidney, Shakespeare, and the Elizabethans in Caroline England Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Rachel Ellen Clark, M.A. English Graduate Program The Ohio State University 2011 Dissertation Committee: Richard Dutton, Advisor Christopher Highley Alan Farmer Copyright by Rachel Ellen Clark 2011 Abstract This dissertation argues that during the reign of Charles I (1625-42), a powerful and long-lasting nationalist discourse emerged that embodied a conflicted nostalgia and located a primary source of English national identity in the Elizabethan era, rooted in the works of William Shakespeare, Sir Philip Sidney, John Lyly, and Ben Jonson. This Elizabethanism attempted to reconcile increasingly hostile conflicts between Catholics and Protestants, court and country, and elite and commoners. Remarkably, as I show by examining several Caroline texts in which Elizabethan ghosts appear, Caroline authors often resurrect long-dead Elizabethan figures to articulate not only Puritan views but also Arminian and Catholic ones. This tendency to complicate associations between the Elizabethan era and militant Protestantism also appears in Caroline plays by Thomas Heywood, Philip Massinger, and William Sampson that figure Queen Elizabeth as both ideally Protestant and dangerously ambiguous. Furthermore, Caroline Elizabethanism included reprintings and adaptations of Elizabethan literature that reshape the ideological significance of the Elizabethan era. The 1630s quarto editions of Shakespeare’s Elizabethan comedies The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew, and Love’s Labour’s Lost represent the Elizabethan era as the source of a native English wit that bridges social divides and negotiates the ii roles of powerful women (a renewed concern as Queen Henrietta Maria became more conspicuous at court).
    [Show full text]
  • The Elizabethan Age
    The Elizabethan Age This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, demi-paradise, This fortress built by Nature for herself Against infection and the hand of war, This happy breed of men, this little world, This precious stone set in the silver sea, Which serves it in the office of a wall Or as a moat defensive to a house, Against the envy of less happier lands,- This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England. – Richard II, William Shakespeare DRAMA TEACHER ACADEMY © 2015 LINDSAY PRICE 1 INDEX THE ELIZABETHAN AGE What was going on during this time period? THE ELIZABETHAN THEATRE The theatres, the companies, the audiences. STAGING THE ELIZABETHAN PLAY How does it differ from modern staging? DRAMA TEACHER ACADEMY © 2015 LINDSAY PRICE 2 Facts About Elizabethan England • The population rose from 3 to 4 million. • This increase lead to widespread poverty. • Average life expectancy was 40 years of age. • Country largely rural, though there is growth in towns and cities. • The principal industry still largely agricultural with wool as its main export. But industries such as weaving started to take hold. • Society strongly divided along class lines. • People had to dress according to their class. • The colour purple was reserved for royalty. • The religion was Protestant-Anglican – the Church of England. • There was a fine if you didn’t attend church. • Only males went to school. • The school day could run from 6 am to 5 pm. • The middle class ate a diet of grains and vegetables – meat was a luxury saved for the rich, who surprisingly ate few vegetables.
    [Show full text]
  • History of English Literature Timeline
    EBOOK BY: KnowledgeMerger.com English literature dates back exceeding five centuries. The literature not only represents authors or writers from almost every part of the world but also it had untapped almost every major genre of writings that one could possibly imagine. In this article on the history of English literature, you'll be getting a glimpse of almost every age of English literature. You will also know about the style of writing of the poets and authors that prevailed back then. History of English Literature Timeline Given below is the History of English Literature timeline. Old Literature (858-1100) Anglo Saxon Norman Conquest (A landmark) Middle Ages (1100-1500) Renassaince (1500-1660) Tudor (1485-1603) Elizabethan (1558-1603) Jacobian (1603-1625) Caroline (1625-1649) Late Renaissance (Puritans) (1625-1660) Neo-Classical Age (1660-1798) Restoration Age (1660-1700) Augustan Literature Age of Sensibility 19th Century Literature Romanticism (1798-1837) Victorian Age (1837-1901) Edwardian Age English Literature Since 1901 Modernism (1901-1939) Post Modernism (1940-21st Century) In this post, all the major ages are focused on. You'll know about the main characteristics of the age of History of English Literature. Old Literature (858-1100) People communicated the poems and literary works orally during the period under consideration. Writing was not given much importance. The Anglo-Saxons were made up of three tribes who came to England through the North Sea route - the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. The Anglo-Saxon age comprises about 600 years. Beowoulf is one of the most important works of that age. It is an epic poem which throws light on a young warrior in Geatland who fought for his people.
    [Show full text]
  • Shakespeare's Veiled Advocacy of Religious Tolerance in Twelfth Night
    Shakespeare’s Veiled Advocacy of Religious Tolerance in Twelfth Night Maureen Richmond, MA Go directly to the text of the paper Abstract In Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare cleverly integrated references to pagan deities and beliefs, thus drawing attention to religious diversity extant in his day, an era otherwise steeped in orthodox Catholic and Protestant theologies. The discussion opens with a description of the historical, political, and religious backdrop against which Twelfth Night was composed. The long and largely peaceful reign of Elizabeth I was thought to be approaching an end. With this prospect came anxiety that the religious conflict which Elizabeth had so expertly contained might flare into widespread social disruption once again. In this fraught atmosphere, Shakespeare arrived with his adroit use of Elizabethan pun and word-play, cleverly scoring his points for cultural diversity while evading strict accountability. In this mode, Shakespeare in Twelfth Night made his characters invoke the Roman deities Mercury, Jove (or Jupiter), Vulcan, and Saturn, while also attributing destiny to the influence of the stars, the heavens, the gods, and fate – all notions which flew in the face of the conventional Christian theology dominant in Shakespeare’s day. Running a significant risk by putting such words in the mouths of his characters, Shakespeare alluded to a popular Elizabethan era astrological belief called the doctrine of correspondences and even poked fun at his characters using this specialized language he knew his audience would recognize. Shakespeare enthusiasts who’ve always wanted to better understand the inside humor of the bard will find their heart’s desires here, while also catching his drift about the need for a good-humored religious tolerance.
    [Show full text]
  • Enlightened Dissent: the Voices of Anti-Imperialism in Eighteenth Century Britain Andrew Victor Gaiero Thesis Submitted to the F
    Enlightened Dissent: The voices of anti-imperialism in eighteenth century Britain Andrew Victor Gaiero Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctorate in Philosophy degree in History Department of History Faculty of Arts University of Ottawa © Andrew Victor Gaiero, Ottawa, Canada, 2016 ii ABSTRACT “Enlightened Dissent: The voices of anti-imperialism in eighteenth century Britain” Author: Andrew Gaiero Supervisor: Richard Connors Submission Year: 2016 This dissertation explores and analyzes anti-imperial sentiments in Britain throughout the long eighteenth century. During this period of major British state formation and imperial expansion, there were a surprisingly large number of observers who voiced notable and varied concerns and opposition towards numerous overseas ventures, yet who have not since received significant attention within the historical record. Indeed, many critics of British imperialism and empire-building, from within Britain itself, formed extensive and thoughtful assessments of their own nation’s conduct in the world. Criticism ranged widely, from those who opposed the high economic costs of imperial expansion to those worried that a divine retribution would rain down upon Britain for injustices committed by Britons abroad. Such diversity of anti-imperial perspectives came from a clearly enlightened minority, whose limited influences upon broader public opinions had little effect on policies at the time. Successive British administrations and self-interested Britons who sought their fortunes and adventures abroad, often with little regard for the damage inflicted on those whom they encountered, won the political debate over empire- building. However, in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, the perspectives of many of these individuals would increasingly become highly regarded.
    [Show full text]