Martial Manners: Revisiting the Cavalier Mode in Defoe’s Memoirs of a Cavalier Máire MacNeill CRITICAL ANALYSES of Daniel Defoe’s !"# novel Memoirs of a Cavalier have foc$sed on the %or& as an atte'pt to revise po($lar histories of the Civil )ar to reflect the (olitical theatre of the earl+ eighteenth cent$r+, According to Nicholas Seager- the novel %as a .id to “correct the part+0inflected historiogra(h+ of the English Civil )ar1 .+ dra%ing $pon the 'an+ 'e'oirs and reflections of the conflict that .egan to appear in (rint fro' the end of the seventeenth cent$r+ 234 5, Else%here- .oth 6a$la 7ac&scheider 2 "80895 and Ro.ert Ma+er 2 :40::5 arg$e that the ai' of the Memoirs %as to re'ind its readers 2faced %ith the i''inent threat of ;aco.ite $prising) of the horrors of civil %ar- %hile Morgan Stra%n reads the novel as a call for a /vigoro$s 'onarch1 to $(hold the state religions of England and Scotland- lest hostile nations exploit dissent for their o%n .ene=t 288#08 5, Andrea )al&den- in her anal+sis of the novel as an attac& on seventeenth0cent$r+ aristocratic &ingshi(- reads it as a de'onstration of the hero’s increasing disill$sion'ent %ith the ro+alist ca$se and his strained heroic aspirations 2 #>35- %hile ?atherine Ar'strong goes f$rther- reading the novel as a deli.erate expos$re of ro+alist 'otives and a @$sti=cation of the >44 Revol$tionar+ Settle'ent 2":09#5, Read thro$gh these critics- the Memoirs are revealed as a %or& that co$rts the political past %hile si'$ltaneo$sl+ editing it so that historical circ$'stance 'ight .etter confor' to the 'ores of the earl+ eighteenth0cent$r+ 'ainstrea'- %hich largel+ favored sta.ilit+- toleration- and representative govern'ent, )hile these readings of the te<t have .een pri'aril+ concerned %ith its explorations of the nat$re of %ar- (olitics- and herois'A$nderstanda.l+ so- given the novel’s narrative foc$s on 'artial ca'(aignsAcritics have paid less attention to the Cavalier’s .ehavior and activities o$tside of a %arti'e context, Bis is in s(ite of the fact that the cavalier social /t+pe1 has .een associated %ith distinctive fashions- attit$des- and 'odes of social cond$ct since the 'iddle of the Digital Defoe: Studies in Defoe & His Contemporaries 9, no. 1 (fall 2018) ISSN 1948-1802 seventeenth cent$r+. Indeed- the i'age of the cavalier that exists in the (o($lar i'agination—he of the lavish dress- the .o$ts of drin&ing- the ($.lic s%agger- and the Continental 'annersA%as as cr$cial to the constr$ction of cavalier '+tholog+ as his (olitical and 'artial aCliations, Be cavalier aesthetic proposed a 'asc$line identit+ eD$all+ designed for .oth the pleas$res of peace and the glor+ of %ar: a s(+ %ho crept into a ro+alist ca'( in >3" descri.ed seeing /'an+ of these Cabalieros richl+ dec&’d %ith long shag hair- reaching do%n to their heels %ho %ere Co''anders to a Troo( of horse that %ere all ar'ed in jetE the Coronet .earing these %ords in the Banner- Damme we’ll win the day1 2Nocturnall Occurrances sig A2v5, Be report 'a+ have .een a piece of (arlia'entarian pro(aganda- .$t it %as propaganda that the cavaliers the'selves %ere %illing to adopt- as Tho'as Corns has s$ggested (52-985, Bro$gho$t the 1640s and 1650s- the cavalier con=gured his social perfor'ance 2and (artic$larl+ his heav+ drin&ing) as part of his soldierl+ identit+ and lo+alt+ to his &ing (Le'on 9!0 > 5, For Charles Cotton- /Wine 'a&es the So$l for Action =t1 23385- %hile Ro.ert Heath de'anded: /Let’s drin& then as %e $s’d to =ght- H As long as %e can stand1 2""5, Defoe- %riting over sixt+ +ears after Cotton- Heath- and other cavalier poets- also $ses his narrator’s social .ehavio$r to infor' his (olitical and 'artial sensi.ilities- .$t disr$pts the socia.leH%arli&e .alance to shift the cavalier hero’s re($tation a%a+ fro' convivial e<cess, Defoe ($.lished the Memoirs at the end of a decade %hich had capitaliIed on scr$tiniIing 'ale 'anners against the social nor's of the previo$s generation and pro'oting a version of politeness that .ro$ght /aesthetic concerns in close contiguit+ %ith ethical ones1 2?lein 35, 6olite gentle'en %ere no% expected to esche% co'petition and favor order- negotiation- and eloD$ence as sol$tions for resolving their disagree'ents, Bese ne% social e<(ectations %ere 'et %ith hostilit+ .+ so'e- %ho argued that (oliteness %as 'erel+ politesse- a French i'port- and relied heavil+ on social interco$rse %ith %o'en- %ho %o$ld act as co'(assionate guides thro$gh this ne% real' of 'anners and 'orals, Fe'ale in*$ence, critics clai'ed- %o$ld onl+ serve to dil$te r$gged English 'asc$linit+, Bis %as a 'isrepresentation of 'an+ advocates of (oliteness: for Shaftes.$r+- for exa'ple- (oliteness co$ld onl+ .e achieved thro$gh friendships .et%een ed$cated 'en, Li&e%ise- 'an+ proponents of good 'anners e'(hasiIed the i'portance of plain- $naJected speech- and disli&ed stiJ and grandiose conversation , Nevertheless- as MichKle Cohen has sho%n 2330> 5- criticis's of politeness as eJe'inate reso$nded thro$gho$t the eighteenth cent$r+, For critics invested in soldiers as social perfor'ers- the D$estion of %hether 'ilitar+ 'en co$ld tr$l+ displa+ polite .ehavior .eca'e an interesting tho$ght experi'ent- and ;$lia 7anister has dra%n attention to Richard Steele’s str$ggle to 'a&e soldiering co'(ati.le %ith politeness 2">0885, )hile soldiers’ (rofession placed the' in an inescapa.l+ co'petitive 2and pri'aril+ 'asc$line5 environ'ent- their heroic ret$rn to England as defenders of the nation’s honor helped to ind$ct the' into (olite societ+, Bis a.ilit+ to occ$(+ .oth separate %orlds of %ar and societ+ %o$ld see' to 'a&e the soldier a perfect candidate for a =gure %ho co$ld 2 .e .oth (olite and 'anl+, Yet %hile a =ctional soldier li&e Steele’s Captain Sentr+ 'ight glide thro$gh London coJee ho$ses and dinner (arties- diverting his friends %ith stories of %arti'e valor and fraterniIing %ith landed gentle'en as their eD$al- his is a /fran&-1 /irregular1 t+pe of socia.ilit+- distinct fro' other 'en’s (oliteness (Steele 2:368). In the Memoirs- Defoe li&e%ise co''ends the narrator’s /Soldierl+ Stile1 in the novel’s preface (sig A2v5- and c$rtails his hero’s toleration for social nor'sAthe Cavalier clashes %ith .oth /.ad1 foreigners and other cavaliers %ho engage in the rioto$s social perfor'ance of the traditional cavalier narrative—and foregro$nds his friendships %ith other soldiers, Upending narratives of cavalier exile d$ring the Interregn$'- Defoe’s Cavalier speci=call+ elects to go a.road in the capacit+ of a soldier rather than as a scholar or (rivate gentle'an- ta&ing %ith hi' his friend /Captain1 Fielding- a 'an %ho /had certainl+ the Lines of a Soldier dra%n into his Co$ntenance1 2Memoirs 90>5, Destined for %ar even as he sets o$t to to$r E$rope- the Cavalier’s narrative sho$ld .e read in the context of eighteenth0cent$r+ de.ates a.o$t soldierl+ civilit+, In fashioning his hero- Defoe had eight+ +ears of %ell0esta.lished 2if heavil+ '+thologiIed5 cavalier .ehavior to dra% $pon- and in select (assages thro$gho$t the novel- he 'ani($lates and s$.verts traditional narratives of cavalier social perfor'ance so that his hero’s cond$ct 'ore closel+ rese'.les eighteenth0cent$r+ civilit+, Defoe’s Memoirs %ere one of several %or&s %ritten in the earl+ eighteenth cent$r+ %hose for' s$ggests an interest in freeing the cavalier fro' (oetic fanc+, )hile the earlier cavalier 'ode had .een cele.rated chie*+ in (oetr+ and dra'a- genres that privilege aesthetics and license %hi's+- Defoe $tiliIed (rose '$ch li&e 'ore recent representations of the cavalier- %hich incl$ded the /co''onsense1 Spectator papers and a$thentic Civil )ar .iogra(hies, s$ch as Ed'$nd L$dlo%’s Memoirs 2 >:40::5 and Clarendon’s History of the ebellion 2 !#"0#35, E'plo+ing a prose st+le that $nderpla+s the action- as Melinda Ra.. has noticed 2 " 0 "85- Defoe’s plain and $naJected English invites his readers to accept the tr$th of his narrative, Li&e%ise- his e'(hasis on 'artial events- even s$.titling the %or& /A Militar+ ;o$rnal-1 also shifts a%a+ fro' the socia.leH%arli&e .alance of the historical cavalier. Yet .+ noticing Defoe’s de.t to .iogra(h+ and @o$rnalis', %e sho$ld not .e indiJerent to the Memoirs as =ctionE indeed- Defoe /%as co$rting MNO an identi=cation1 of his novel %ith conte'(orar+ ro'ances- and so'e readers .elieved it to .e =ction at least as earl+ as the 1750s (Seager 3: 0:85, Despite cavalier literat$re’s ne% trade in plain0spo&enness- Defoe exploits the so.riet+ of prose to prod$ce a te<t that is often a'.iguo$s in %hat it descri.es, M+ reading of the Memoirs is less c+nical than Sharon Al&er’s- %hich s$ggests that the novel sho%s a narrator %ho elides his partici(ation in %arti'e violence to s$stain the veneer of herois'- .$t %hose ps+che event$all+ .rea&s do%n after the tra$'a of %ar, Nevertheless- Al&er is correct to D$er+ the trans(arenc+ of the narrative: she- li&e Ra..- has dra%n attention to the Cavalier’s evasiveness %hen descri.ing the atrocities of %ar.