Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- 1 Images of London in medieval English literature
- 2 London and the early modern stage
- 3 London and the early modern book
- 4 London and poetry to 1750
- 5 Staging London in the Restoration and eighteenth century
- 6 London and narration in the long eighteenth century
- 7 London and nineteenth-century poetry
- 8 London in the Victorian novel
- 9 London in Victorian visual culture
- 10 London in poetry since 1900
- 11 London and modern prose, 1900-1950
- 12 Immigration and postwar London literature
- 13 Writing London in the twenty-first century
- 14 Inner London
- Guide to further reading
- Index
5 - Staging London in the Restoration and eighteenth century
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 September 2011
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- 1 Images of London in medieval English literature
- 2 London and the early modern stage
- 3 London and the early modern book
- 4 London and poetry to 1750
- 5 Staging London in the Restoration and eighteenth century
- 6 London and narration in the long eighteenth century
- 7 London and nineteenth-century poetry
- 8 London in the Victorian novel
- 9 London in Victorian visual culture
- 10 London in poetry since 1900
- 11 London and modern prose, 1900-1950
- 12 Immigration and postwar London literature
- 13 Writing London in the twenty-first century
- 14 Inner London
- Guide to further reading
- Index
Summary
In 1673, an anonymous writer warned a young country gentleman headed for London that he would surely see himself lampooned on the stage:
Thou hast often ... heard of a sort of despised Animals, call'd Country Gentlemen: if thou frequentest the Play-House, thou hast there seen us brought in with a high-crown'd Hat, a Sword put through the wast-band of our Breeches, and a pair of antick tops; where we tamely stand, whilst the learned man of Humours practises upon us with his sleights, and intrigues.
During the Restoration and eighteenth century, London grew at an unprecedented rate, attracting men and women in search of pleasure, work, entertainment, marriage, opportunity, and adventure. Mr Spectator celebrated the multicultural bustle of the Royal Exchange; James Boswell hoped London would polish his manners; Samuel Johnson declared those tired of London to be tired of life. But not everyone recommended the trip. Critics decried the city's immorality and dissolution; they warned against whores, gamesters, and thieves. Visitors from the country, they declared, would fall victim to the 'tricks of the town' as well as to contemptuous ridicule from smug libertines. Further, they would confront these ills immediately, for any visitor's first stop in London would be the theatre.
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- Information
- The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of London , pp. 85 - 101Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
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