The British on the Road 1787-1837
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UNIVERSITY OF SALZBURG The British on the Road 1787-1837 CULTURAL PERCEPTION IN TRAVEL ACCOUNTS DIPLOMA THESIS In fulfillment of the requirements for the academic degree (Magistra) at the faculty of cultural and social sciences at the University of Salzburg Faculty of History Assessor: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Laurence Cole Submitted by Brenn Johanna Salzburg, April 2018 “A Traveler without Observation is a Bird without Wings.” Moslih Eddin Saadi Dedicated to my family and friends Inhaltsverzeichnis PREFACE ............................................................................................................................................. 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. RESEARCH TOPIC ................................................................................................................ 1 1.2. STATE OF RESEARCH AND LITERATURE ..................................................................... 7 1.3. OUTLINE OF THESIS ........................................................................................................... 9 1.4. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH ................................................................................... 11 1.5. GUIDING QUESTIONS AND OBJECTIVES ..................................................................... 15 2. HABSBURG AUSTRIA AND GREAT BRITAIN 1787-1837 ................................................ 17 2.1. POLITICAL SITUATION HABSBURG AUSTRIA1787-1837 .......................................... 17 2.2. SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND SITUATION IN HABSBURG AUSTRIA .......................... 21 2.3. POLITICAL SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN 1780-1830 ............................................. 24 2.4. SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND SITUATION IN GREAT BRITAIN .................................... 27 2.5. CULTURAL CONTACT AND RELATIONS ..................................................................... 30 3. THE LITERARY GENRE OF TRAVEL ACCOUNTS ........................................................... 35 3.1. TRAVEL ACCOUNTS IN THE 18TH CENTURY ............................................................... 35 3.2. TRAVEL ACCOUNTS IN THE 19TH CENTURY ............................................................... 37 4. BIOGRAPHIES OF THE BRITISH IN HABSBURG AUSTRIA 1780-1830 ......................... 39 4.1. THE BEGINNING OF FEMALE TRAVEL WRITERS ...................................................... 39 4.2. HESTER LYNCH THRALE PIOZZI (1741-1821) .............................................................. 42 4.3. MARTHA WILMOT BRADFORD (1775-1873) ................................................................. 45 4.4. FRANCES MILTON TROLLOPE (1779-1863) .................................................................. 48 5. CULTURAL PERCEPTION..................................................................................................... 52 5.1. NATURAL AND MANMADE ENVIRONMENT .............................................................. 52 5.2. SOCIETY AND ITS LIFESTYLE ........................................................................................ 66 5.3. HOSPITALITY AND ACCOMMODATION ...................................................................... 85 6. RESULTS AND RESUMEE .................................................................................................... 95 7. BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................... 102 8. APPENDIX REGISTER ......................................................................................................... 107 9. ATTACHMENTS ................................................................................................................... 108 PREFACE Traveling to England a couple of times has always been a rewarding experience for me. It is not only the English language but also England´s history that keeps fascinating and attracting me. Since I have been studying English and History for almost five years now, I am of the opinion combining those two subjects would be advantageous for my diploma thesis. By doing so, two of my passions—the English language and history—will be combined and, therefore, hopefully contribute to my diploma´s outcome in a positive way. Nowadays, travelling abroad has become a natural opportunity for many young people, which implies exploring the world on a low budget. Learning different languages, experiencing various foreign cultures, and making friends with people from all over the world have become essential and attractive components when travelling the globe. Over two centuries ago, only a selected group of people were able to go on a journey whereas in modern times nearly anybody has the chance to do so. Having worked as an au pair in an English speaking country for some time, I am very much interested in foreign cultures. Nevertheless, ascertaining how the age of enlightenment and romanticism influenced the genre of travel writing as well as elaborating on the Britons´ perception when traveling Habsburg Austria represented quite some challenge. Consequently, I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Cole, who supported me by recommending and providing some useful literature sources as well as some pieces of advice. 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. RESEARCH TOPIC The following thesis paper focuses on the travel journals and letters of the British authors Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi (1741-1821), Martha Wilmot Bradford (1775-1873), and Frances Milton Trollope (1779-1863) who became popular novelists across Europe for their writings. Although all three women were somewhat different in their personalities, they all had something in common: They traveled to parts of the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria during a time when social and political transformations unfolded. Although Georgian society considered women who decided for themselves to travel around without their husbands´ explicit consent as morally reprehensible, some women were courageous enough to venture out on a journey across Europe and to start writing about their experiences of foreign cultures. Spending some time in foreign places usually implies entering unknown terrain and encountering unfamiliar aspects of a culture which differs from one´s own. Since gathering experiences with the unknown is closely interrelated to the observer´s perception, the choice of topic was placed on the investigation of the perception of Hester Lynch Piozzi, Martha Wilmot Bradford, and Frances Milton Trollope when encountering Austrian society and culture. As a matter of fact, their accounts were produced during a time when Europe was affected by the consequences of enlightened ideas and when Vienna became the center of cosmopolitan political and social events so that their travel accounts represent an important source providing posterity with an insight into the Austrian society during a distinctive historical period of time. After all, the authors´ cultural perceptions of the unknown will not simply be analyzed by selected literature but also by placing their experiences in an historical context in order to gain an insight into the Austrian culture at the end of the eighteenth and early nineteenth century. The thematic focus will be placed on the travelers´ perceptions of the Austrian culture between 1787 and about 1837. In the following chapters, it is aimed to analyze different factors that affected their perceptions on the so called Grand Tour but also the various ways of perception and presentation of the unknown in three British travel accounts. Before providing a glance into various factors that influenced traveler´s perceptions back then, the type of journey of the Grand Tour will be elaborated on. While the Grand Tour was originally only to be commenced by the young Englishmen of the nobility, the Grand Tour of the mid and late eighteenth century became increasingly more popular among the rising bourgeoisie. Accordingly, it requires to be differentiated between two types of the Grand Tour: First off, it should be clear that from the sixteenth until the mid-eighteenth 1 century the Grand Tour represented a journey through continental Europe that was supposed to signify the closure of the young noblemen´s education. Also, the Grand Tour was only granted to the rich noblemen of aristocracy with the purpose of getting access to the cosmopolitan aristocratic world. Primary destinations were France and Italy where they should acquire among others noble conventions and manners of aristocratic representations. Despite its original purpose, it was soon discredited for its entertainments which implied drinking, gambling, and women. This explains why it was often criticized by many contemporaries including Maria Theresia but also enlightened thinkers such as Locke.1 This original type of the Grand Tour could not be maintained due to various social and political developments including the era of enlightenment and the industrialization. In this time, middle class people extended the Grand Tour to an educational journey. Was das Reisen im 18. Jahrhundert von jenem früherer Zeiten unterscheidet, ist, daß sich das aufstrebende Bürgertum das von Descartes vertretene Prinzip des Reisens als wesentliches Bildungselement zu eigen machte. […] die Bildungsreise des jungen Herrn von Stande hat in der adligen Kavalierstour […] ihre Tradition; Geändert hat sich allerdings ihre Zielsetzung: Aus der Vergnügungsreise wurde die Bildungsreise (was freilich das Amüsement nicht ausschloß).2