'I hope I don't intrude' : Privacy and its dilemmas in nineteenth-century Britain / David Vincent.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Vincent, David, 1949- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Poole, John, 1786?-1872. Paul Pry.

Poole, John.

English drama--19th century--History and criticism.

English drama.

Privacy--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Privacy.

Privacy in literature.

History.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

xii, 354 pages : black & white illustrations; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2015.

Summary:

" 'I Hope I Don't Intrude' takes its title from the catch-phrase of the eponymous hero of the 1825 play Paul Pry, which was an immense success on the London stage and then rapidly in New York and around the English-speaking world. It tackles the complex, multi-faceted subject of privacy in nineteenth-century Britain by examining the way in which the tropes, language, and imagery of the play entered public discourse about privacy in the rest of the century. The volume is not just an account of a play, or of late Georgian and Victorian theatre. Rather it is a history of privacy, showing how the play resonated through Victorian society and revealed its concerns over personal and state secrecy, celebrity, gossip and scandal, postal espionage, virtual privacy, the idea of intimacy, and the evolution of public and private spheres." -- Publisher's website.

Contents:

Introduction

Enter Pry

The general truth of the delineation

The performance of Paul Pry

The moderate C.

The Paul Pry industry

The dynamics of the market

The dilemmas of privacy

The spirit of inquiry

Intrusion

Virtual privacy

Conclusion

Comedy and error.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [315]-347) and index.

ISBN:

9780198725039

0198725035

OCLC:

884241978