The Rhetoric of Sensibility in Eighteenth-Century Culture

by Paul Goring

Paul Goring demonstrates how eighteenth-century writers and performers, including Samuel Richardson, David Garrick and Laurence Sterne, were involved in the construction of innovative bourgeois ideals of sentimental eloquence in contrast to more patrician, classical bodily modes. Spanning oratory, theatre and the novel, Goring charts the growing links between bodily eloquence and the wider formalities of politeness to reveal a cultural contest concerning the appropriate forms of physical expression.

236 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2004

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better overviews of the period I've read - remarkably sophisticated in its account of overlooked and somewhat disreputable figures (Orator Henley, Thomas Sheridan, the Methodist Enthusiasts) who nonetheless were a huge part of the celebrity culture of 18th Century rhetoric. I'm not sure if I buy his thesis - which hinges on the centrality of the body over the speech itself. My own work tries to place the figure of the speaker, however disembodied, almost in spite of his physical attributes (even in the elocutionary movements Goring educated me on) - that, if anything, speech itself tried to distance itself from more suspect agenda associated with the sinful flesh.

But I think this will end up playing a part in my dissertation, mainly for his recognition that the middle class audience who bought the sentimental novels of the period were also fixated by public displays of oratory. Good stuff.