Essential and Ubiquitous: The Inns of Eighteenth-Century British Fiction

In eighteenth-century England, inns stand as transient spaces between traditional, feudal values and a progressive, commercial society. They at once represent inward domesticity and outward society, classical hospitality and commercial enterprise, and class stratification and class amalgamation. Writers throughout the century understood the inimitable role the inn plays in society as a functional and temporary home for travelers, a local hub for regionally isolated communities, and a convening space for all of England, and thus they exploit the space for its utility. Since the space of the inn simultaneously resides outside the class system and yet inside the English social framework, it provides writers a pivotal location in which people across the social spectrum interact. In part, the anonymity afforded at inns also provides a foreign, almost exotic, atmosphere that begs for romance, intrigue, and secrecy. Analyzing works by Penelope Aubin, Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, and Tobias Smollett, this work argues that the inn serves an essential function within eighteenth-century English fiction.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

British and American Literature

Grantor

University of Houston

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Webster, Michael M.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Mazella, David

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Christensen, Ann C.
• Lecourt, Sebastian J.
• Rothman, Irving N.
• Patterson, Catherine F.

• Eighteenth century
• Fiction
• England
• Lodging
• Hospitality
• Travel
• Commercialism
• Leisure

Statement dc:rights

• The author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s).

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10657/3097

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uh-ir.tdl.org:10657/3097