Addison's Use of The Spectator to Influence
Opinions
During the eighteenth century the periodical joined its readership into a union of collective thoughts with the ability to influence the political, social and financial world around them. In the periodical Spectator No. 69, Joseph Addison creates a persona that reveals a new diverse society of merchants who created the Royal Exchange and who rivaled the powers of Parliament and past Monarchies over the British domains.
The persona "Mr. Spectator" declares that he is being completely captivated by the "mixing of several ministers of commerce"(2334), with the ability to communicate and create incredible financial transactions in the multi-national melting pot throughout Great Britain. Mr. Addison's persona relates how vast the wealth of merchants is that influenced the livelihood of Britain. The persona further implies that these powerful merchants create more financial wealth than the Royal Treasury controlled by "old kings"(2337).
Additionally, Mr. Spectator speaks of Great Britain's fragile state with nature because the climate and soil are not conducive to production of many natural products. The persona states that nature furnishes just the "bare necessities"(2336) in Great Britain and that most commodities of "richness" are supplied through the commerce created by the Exchange. This is a powerful statement that has great influence on the readers. The merchants and common man's desires include financial success and consumption of all the wonderful products that abound throughout the world, and should be enjoyed through the fruition of the Exchange.
The most influential remark made by this periodical infers that Great Britain's history included much strife as part of the process to increase and protect its domain. The persona quite explicitly explains that the traditional need to attain "additional territories"(2337) for the expansion of the British Empire can now be replaced by a new form of territory entitled "financial power" that was created by the trade between merchants and the Exchange.
Shields, David S. Oracles of Empire: Poetry, Politics, and Commerce in British America, 1690-1750. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990
For it is a commonplace of our understanding of the period that the Victorian writer wanted above all to “stay in touch.” Comparing his situation with that of his immediate predecessors, he recognized that indulgence in a self-centered idealism was no longer viable in a society which ever more insistently urged total involvement in its occupations. The world was waiting to be improved upon, and solved, and everyone, poets, included had to busy themsel...
The setting is London in 1854, which is very different to anything we know today. Johnson’s description of this time and place makes it seem like a whole other world from the here and now....
Ernst, Joseph Albert. Money and politics in America, 1755–1775; a study in the Currency act of
When examining the bloody and often tumultuous history of Great Britain prior to their ascent to power, one would not have predicted that they would become the global leader of the 18th century. Prior to the Treaty of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years War, the Spanish and the Holy Roman Empire held much of the power in Europe. Only with the suppression of Catholicism and the development of national sovereignty did Great Britain have the opportunity to rise through the ranks. While much of continental Europe was seeking to strengthen their absolute monarchies and centralized style of governing, in the 17th and 18th centuries Great Britain was making significant political changes that reflected the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment. The first of the political philosophers was Thomas Hobbes who first introduced the idea that the monarch ruled not by “divine right” but through the consent of the people. This was a radical idea with ramifications that are reflected in the great changed Great Britain made to to their government in the 17th century. Through a series of two violent civil wars between the monarchy and Parliament and the bloodless civil war known as the Glorious Revolution, Parliament was granted the authority to, in essence, “check” the power of the monarchy. The internal shifts of power in Great Britain and the savvy foreign policy skills demonstrated by the British in much of the conflict happening in continental Europe can be credited with England’s rise to power.
One of the greatest sources of misconception behind British policy during that time is that taxes and regulations were not in place when they actually had been before – they were just never really enforced. Between Britain’s neglect to properly ensure that these policies were followed and the corruption present in America with smuggling, bribing, or circumventing the rules in some other manner, one would not have been likely to realize that policies were indeed in place. It comes as no surprise then that with Parliament’s p...
“Alice in Wonderland” written by famous author, Lewis Carroll, is a fantasy novel printed with many respects and portrays a vivid reflection of society through satire. For instance, Carroll criticizes that Wonderland is a monarchy and not a democracy; it is separated between different social classes, and clearly speaks volumes of the scheme during Queen Victoria’s rein. During the Victorian Era, British imperial power took a large-scale expansion through many colonial parts of Africa, India, Asia, and other parts of the middle-east. Thus, increasing use of the English language outside of Europe and increasing trade with distant regions. This produced a strong spirit of animosity during Queen Victoria’s rein. However, later in the Age, writer’s like Lewis Carroll rebelled against blasphemy and stereotypical codes of conduct. “Alice in Wonderland” is one work of fiction that Lewis Carroll gives a prime example of his satirical entourage.
Gull, John. The Oxford Illustrated History of Brittan. Great Brittan: Butler & Tanner Ltd, Frome, Somerset., 1984. Print.
Many economic systems are revealed in A Respectable Trade: Slavery, Feudalism, Self-Employment, and Capitalism. England in 1788 was entering a period of economic transition. Viewing this finite period in A Respectable Trade allows us, as economists, to dissect the different market systems prevalent during that time.
Chesterfield, Lord. Lord Chesterfield's Letters: Complete, Unabridged, and Uncensored. Oxford: Oxford University Press, USA, 2008. Print.
Century. There were several key factors in Britain’s rapid growth as an international empire. Britain 's development at this time had an important international and military dimension. An empire based on sea power, commerce and naval dominance consolidated British overseas colonization and trade. Three key factors facilitated Britain’s rise to power, the first is warfare, the second is colonization and the third is trade.
Jane Austen’s novel Persuasion emanates the social and political upheaval caused by the war and depicts the transition into nineteenth century realism where class and wealth was considered extremely important in the social hierarchy. She explores the reactions to the newly diverse interactions between different social classes and although she was “no snob, she knew all about snobbery.” Therefore, she is able to realistically portray the views of upper class characters such as Sir Walter Elliot and contrast them to men who have earned their wealth, such as Captain Wentworth. Whilst Britain was involved with the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars in the early nineteenth century, the navy had a profound involvement therefore this is not only reflected in Austen’s real life, but also in her novels. This alters the narrative in the novel as a whole as Austen depicts how wealth and being upper class is no longer limited to hereditory but can also be earned through professions such as being in the navy. As a result, the contrasts between the opinions and actions of the men who work for their wealth and the men who merely receive it from their family are profound.
The setting for this novel was a constantly shifting one. Taking place during what seems to be the Late Industrial Revolution and the high of the British Empire, the era is portrayed amongst influential Englishmen, the value of the pound, the presence of steamers, railroads, ferries, and a European globe.
Spanning “over a fifth of the world’s land surface” and the governance of 458 million people at its peak, the British Empire came to bear the name of the “vast empire on which the sun never sets.” At the time of writing this in 1773, Macartney, a British statesman and colonial administrator, also asserted that the Empire’s “bounds nature has not yet ascertained.” When considering the significance of the Palace of Westminster, London in British imperial history, this statement could not ring truer. The House of Commons and the House of Lords meet within the Palace of Westminster, and it was within these democratic buildings that many of the most controversial aspects of the Empire were decided, discussed and debated. Whether this be over topics
Smith, G., Anderson, I., & Anderson, L. (1899). The United Kingdom: A Political History (Vol. 1). New York: The Macmillan Co.