I am working on an essay for my British History class and I could use some feedback. I started by exploring the Habermasian public sphere of the coffeehouse, and wondered about the pecularities of the masculine space. Here is a brief sample of what went through my head: Why are there no female coffeehouses? Are women present only as servants? Do women damage their reputation by frequenting a coffeehouse the same way they do by frequenting a tavern? Are coffeehouses the more elite version of the tavern if one can purchase alcohol in the coffeeshop? If coffeehouses are linked to brothels, why don't we know this? How does class show in the coffeehouse? How does class show anywhere? Aren't the virtuosi fops? Aren't the Royalists fops? What do Addison and Steele have to do with how women behave?
After struggling to piece together some understanding, I am left with a clever title but my essay is still in formation. It's past the embryonic stage right to the point where I hate it because it is not going where I want it to go. I will post some of it up here (though it is far too rough to be shown to an English class) and maybe you would be kind enough to look and give an insight, if you have one.
Oh-Liz, I am always awed by the speed of Amazon. It is the Concorde of the mail.
You know, I just had an interesting gender-sphere-related thought of my own last night. I was reading Sarah Fielding's The Governess and during the Life of Jenny Peace came across a small, nearly insignificant footnote defining what a closet as "a small room for privacy or retirement, sometimes used for devotions (Fielding 63). I found this really interesting because, so far as we have seen, a closet is a room used only by women. First Pamela, and now Jenny's mother.
ReplyDeleteWhich then put me in mind of a study, which, as a kind of library, is represented more as an intrinsically male space.
I don't know if I can answer any of your slew of questions about the gender-related sphere of the coffeehouse - I'm just not that well versed in the history of the coffeeshop - but if you're seeing a divide in the gender population of the coffeehouse, then stick with your gut and see what kind of facts you can dig up. I do know that the nineteenth century was divided into gender-related spheres, so we can only assume that the practice began in the eighteenth century.
I'm interested to see what kind of facts you come up with. Good luck researching.