Picturing Britain Society—Research On The Periodical Tatler

The reign of Queen Anne (1702-1714) is one of the most intriguing period in the history of Great Britain. Those years witnessed the great changes of British, like the establishment of British navy supremacy, the historical moment that Scotland became part of Britain, as well as the advance of cultural undertaking, the great achievements of which have a persistent impact on British literature. Many celebrity men sprung up during this age, contributing a lot to the flourish of British Empire in all walks of life, like political field, commercial field and cultural filed. In reference to literary circle at that time, undoubtedly the most distinguished representatives are Richard Steele and Joseph Addison, who published the renowned two periodical essays in British history--- Tatler and Spectator, marking the beginning of the hundred-year wave of periodical essay. Tatler, started in 1709,was the first masterpiece cooperated by Steele and Addison.Though it was not as far-reaching as Spectator, Tatler deserves more attention of people, especially historians. Due to that, this essay puts its focus on Tatler, trying to analysis the background of its publication, the descriptions of social life, moral enlightment and literary comment in its content, in order to deepen understanding about British society in early eighteen century.The essay could be divided into four parts. Chapter one gives an account of social condition which promotes the publication of Tatler, including the prosperous of publish industry and the expansion of coffeehouse---the most popular information exchange place.Milton’s For the liberty of unlicensed printing to the Parliament of England paved the way for publish liberty, while the abolishment of Licensing Law signified the collapse of British book censorship, which invigorated the publication of books and newspapers. The publishing industry was no longer the patent occupied by few people, but became a commodity in the market and anyone afford it can be enjoyed. The huge market demand provided inexhaustible force for periodical publishing. Not only that, coffeehouses in that time, under the title of "Penny University", boosted news exchange. As a public sphere, coffeehouse soon became an important producer, circulation and consumption space for periodicals. All these favorable factors furnished a relatively free atmosphere for the development of periodicals in the eighteenth century, so that Totler emerged.The next part concentrates on analyzing the essays which talk about apparel, pastoral life as well as love and marriage, reproducing the British social life style in the Augustan age. The research about clothing comes first, pointing out that the apparel was quite glamorous then, a typically baroque style.Everybody, man or girl, young or old, all got addicted in dressing up, which showed people’s fervor for fashion. Following clothing study, by listing the characters of British landscape, the British’s love for pastoral is revealed by the author. Tatler warmly praised the charming pastoral life, encouraging people to touch nature and feel it. On the issue of love and marriage, it is discovered that the concept of both love and marriage had brought in violent changes in Queen Anne’s time. Love took a crucial position in marriage, while indulgence of sex was sinful. Tatler is just like a scroll of social life, fixing all those things happened during that era in it.Chapter three carries on the description of social life in the early eighteenth century, while the emphasis moves to the moral enlightment.Tatler took its responsibility in transforming social conditions, by exposing the misbehavior of individual person and proposing a brand-new method for education. The essay depicts all vicious phenomenon which was reflected in Tatler, such as gambling, overdrinking and dueling, makes a detailed list of the adverse consequences, analysis the reasons why those bad habits could exist, abuses the dissolute way of life, persuades people to establish a proper recreational idea. To give the definition of gentleman,the author advocates etiquette and self-cultivation, tells people to cherish virtue, for the purpose of being a qualified gentleman. Further discussion is about female’s social status and educational situation. By restoring the image of elegant ladies of that age, the essay exhibits female’s unique fascination, calls for the importance of female education, giving equal status to women.The last part turns its eyes to the literature characters of Tatler. Periodical itself is a kind of literary form, saving the author of Tatler, Steele and Addison were professional writers in literary circle, so that it is quite common to find some highlights in it. Tatler concerns about the latest trend of literature, not only encourage creative working, but also make distinctive remarks on poems and drama,developing the British literature criticism.Furthermore, the reviews are mostly wrote in essays, which vivid atmosphere touches people, eliminating the boring preach. Those essays settle the criterion of essay writing, forcing the emergence of periodicaI essay, even influencing the birth of novel.Finally the conclusion looked back to the background and main content of Tatler, making a concise assessment of this periodical which is processed of both literature and history value.In political field, Tatler provides a free public sphere for politicians; in economic field, Tatler promotes the emergence of early British consumer society, and in literary field, Tatler establishes a civilized society which is on a par with the Augustan Age of Roman Empire.