Unbecoming Gentlemen: Idleness, Occupation, and Masculinity, 1760-1820

Hardiman, Edward Robert

Abstract

This thesis explores the subject of elite masculinity in the late eighteenth century. Specifically, I focus on the discussion of, and resistance to, normative conceptions of genteel masculinity and how efforts to refashion and reimagine those dominant values and practices produced masculinities which were inherently unstable and prone to charges of effeminacy. Drawing on both print and manuscript, I offer a comparative analysis of the differences between cultural representation and lived experience. The first three chapters focus on print culture, particularly the representation of gentlemen and the discussion of genteel virtu within novels, historical works, poems, and periodicals. The final two chapters offer a case study of the lived experience and everyday practice of Cumberland-born, gentleman lawyer, Andrew Hudleston (1734-1821).
The first half of this thesis explores how print discussed archetypes of genteel masculinity through the topics of labour, leisure, and social space. Through these respective topics, writers sought to use the gentleman to understand and discuss the hierarchical structures of masculinity, and in doing so, interrogated the growing cultural and social purchase of the middling sort. These printed discussions were rarely unified; however, these pockets of print offered novel insights on the topic of what constituted a gentleman and under what circumstances did a man relinquish or lose his gentility. The boundaries between labour and leisure, as well as the variety of social spaces, helped to distinguish the gentleman from other social orders. The second half looks at the uncatalogued and private archival material of Andrew Hudleston, examining his efforts to forge for himself a genteel identity. His extensive correspondence and life writing detail his struggles to commit to his legal career and conform to familial expectations. Through these sources, these chapters will offer a wholly unique case study of genteel identity in conflict.

Citation

Hardiman, E. R. Unbecoming Gentlemen: Idleness, Occupation, and Masculinity, 1760-1820. (Thesis). Keele University. https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/1109990

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Mar 21, 2025
• Public URL: https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/1109990
• Additional Information: Embargo on access until 25 February 2026 - The thesis is due for publication, or the author is actively seeking to publish this material.
• Award Date: 2025-03