Traditions of Tenderness: Sensibility and the Classics in Early Eighteenth-Century Britain

Sensibility in eighteenth-century Britain is often described by critics as a rejection of Augustan classicism in favour of a modern, proto-Romantic focus on individual emotion and mutual sympathy. My thesis argues, by contrast, that the classicism of the early eighteenth century was inextricably intertwined with the development of sensibility, both because the new cultural importance of sympathy changed how classical texts were interpreted and because the literature of sensibility drew on the literature of classical antiquity. I examine the development of sentimental classicism through three chapters which chart changes in the reception of key classical archetypes during the early years of the eighteenth century. The first chapter discusses the figure of Hector in Homer’s Iliad. In a literary critical revolution catalysed by the highly popular translation of Alexander Pope in 1715, Hector’s parting from Andromache came to be read as a scene of mutual sympathy and vulnerability, an interpretation which established the Trojan hero as a prototype for the modern “man of feeling.” The second chapter describes the reception of the idealised Roman statesman. Always an inspiring icon of virtue, the Roman statesman was reimagined as a tender, loving husband through new translations of ancient domestic letters in periodicals like the Spectator and the Tatler. In Roman dramas such as Addison’s Cato (1713), the voices of compassionate female characters take on a new importance, challenging the ethical value of stoic Roman masculinity in the modern age. The final section focuses on Ovid’s Heroides, showing how eighteenth-century translation and interpretation practices rejected older visions of the female characters as crude or silly harlots and transformed them into dignified heroines. The language of newly sympathetic Heroides translations became a staple of sentimental poetry throughout the eighteenth century. The wide range of materials discussed in the thesis, including paintings, poetry, translations, and drama, illustrates how thoroughly the productive dialogue between sensibility and the Classics pervaded British culture. By exploring this under-studied synthesis of cultural strands, the thesis sheds new light on the literary history of emotions in Britain and on the development of Classics as a discipline.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Cambridge

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Glueck, Jessica

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Whitmarsh, Tim

• Britain
• classical reception
• eighteenth-century
• sensibility

Licence

• https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/d8728189-200f-450c-a0c5-c57727a1bdf2/download
• http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved

Language dc:language

eng

DOI dc:identifier.doi

https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.117407

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/382755