Literature and Dance in Nineteenth-Century Britain
Jane Austen to the New Woman

This book explores how dance provided a vehicle through which nineteenth-century writers could convey social commentary and social critique.

Cheryl A. Wilson (Author)

9781107404373, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 10 May 2012

220 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.2 cm, 0.3 kg

Review of the hardback: '… I am pleased to recommend this book to many readers. Victorian scholars, cultural critics, and even lay people who wish to learn more about the importance of dance in nineteenth-century culture.' Review 19

Literary critics often pursue analyses of music or painting and literature as 'sister arts', yet this was the first full-length study of the treatment of social dance in literature. A vital part of social life and courtship with its own symbolism, dance in the nineteenth century was a natural point of interest for novelists writing about these topics; and indeed ballroom scenes could themselves be used to further courtship narratives or illustrate other significant encounters. Including analyses of works by Jane Austen, W. M. Thackeray, George Eliot and Anthony Trollope, as well as extensive material from nineteenth-century dance manuals, Cheryl A. Wilson shows how dance provided a vehicle through which writers could convey social commentary and cultural critique on issues such as gender, social mobility and nationalism.

List of illustrations
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Introduction
1. The culture of dance
2. Almack's: dancing at the center of the world
3. Heritage and hierarchy: the English country dance
4. Social circles and dance squares: the quadrille
5. Les contretemps dangereaux: enter the waltz
Afterword: confessions of a lady patroness
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900 [DSBF], Literature & literary studies [D], Dance [ASD]