The importance and impossibility of eighteenth-century manhood: Polite and libertine masculinities in the urban eighteenth century

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter (peer-reviewed)peer-review

Abstract

This chapter explores the continuum of polite and libertine expression of manhood in eighteenth-century Scotland through an examination of violence, independence, sexuality and friendship, drawing particularly on life writing by men such as James Boswell and the minister Thomas Sutherland. Shifting ideals of behaviour and sentiment served to assert manhood among different men and individuals could adopt different manly personas ranging from the polite gentleman to the libertine depending on locale and time of day. Among the issues discussed are changing responses to duelling, amended definitions of honour, the importance of economic credit and independence, varied attitudes to the sexuality of women, and the conflicting pulls of virtuous self-governed manhood and the opportunities for sexual licence, both heterosexual and homosexual, provided in the growing towns of Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationNine Centuries of Man
Subtitle of host publicationManhood and Masculinities in Scottish History
EditorsLynn Abrams, Elizabeth L. Ewan
PublisherEdinburgh University Press
Chapter3
Pages58-79
ISBN (Electronic)9781474403917, 9781474403900
ISBN (Print)9781474403894, 9781474437837
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 23 Jan 2017

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Scotland
  • masculinity
  • sexuality
  • violence
  • friendship
  • homosexuality
  • Edinburgh
  • James Boswell
  • honour

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The importance and impossibility of eighteenth-century manhood: Polite and libertine masculinities in the urban eighteenth century'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this