The Feminization Debate in Eighteenth-Century England: Literature, Commerce and Luxury

by E.J. Clery

In the Eighteenth-century, critics of capitalism denounced the growth of luxury and effeminacy; supporters applauded the increase of refinement and the improved status of women. This pioneering study explores the way the association of commerce and femininity permeated cultural production. It looks at the first use of a female author as an icon of modernity in the Athenian Mercury , and reappraises works by Elizabeth Singer Rowe, Mandeville, Defoe, Pope and Elizabeth Carter. Samuel Richardson's novels represent the culmination of the English debate, while contemporary essays by David Hume move towards a fully-fledged enlightenment theory of feminization.

245 pages, Paperback

First published August 20, 2004

About the author

Emma Clery is a Professor of English at the University of Southampton.

Reviews

[Devoney Looser · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had the pleasure of reviewing this book: Looser, Devoney. “Pioneer Feminizers and the Eighteenth-Century Welcome of Female Authors” [Rev. of The Feminization Debate in Eighteenth-Century England, by E. J. Clery] The Eighteenth-Century 49 (2009): n.pag. Web.