Regency Gentlemen Amusements
The Regency Era, generally referring to the time period of 1800-1820,
was undeniably a time of pleasure seeking and over-indulgence. The
Regency era represented a time when the current ruler, mad King
George III, was incapable of performing his royal duties. Due to his
madness, the King’s son the Prince of Wales, a Regent and heir to the
throne, was appointed to govern. The Prince of Wales was designated
Regent in 1811 (Channel4). During this era people of the upper class
had a great deal of leisure time, and their major task seemed to be to
entertain themselves. Some of the more popular amusements of rich and
fashionable Regency gentlemen were boxing, cockfighting, and
gambling.
During the reign of George I, fighting with swords became obsolete and
battles were settled with fists. Boxing began to improve and rise in
popularity in 1788 when the three eldest sons of George III began to
give their support to the sport (Georgian Index). Bare-knuckle boxing
was a favorite amongst the Regency gentlemen and was more than a
spectator sport, there was a large amount of betting, and many of the
gently born participated. In the mid-1700s, Jack Broughton completed
the first set of rules to be used at bouts in his club. Not counting
cock fighting, these rules were the first applied to sporting events
in modern history (GI).
Regency violence was personified by 'the Fancy', followers of the
bare-knuckle boxing championships. The fights captured the interest of
many, and were frequently viewed by crowds between 3,000 and 10,000
people (Channel4). The drawn-out fights of massive blood and even
bigger egos wer...
... middle of paper ...
... Bibliography
A Regency Buck. 2004. Channel 4. 18 Feb. 2005
/microsites/R/regencyhouse/history/buck.html>.
Ewing, Jean. The Strangest Tongue. 1997. 18 Feb. 2005
.
Georgian Index. March 2003. Mimanet. 19 Feb. 2005
.
Micheletii, Ellen. Gambling in Historic England. 2005. 18 Feb. 2005
.
Pool, Daniel. What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew. New York:
Simon & Schuster, 1993.
Regency Lexicon. 23 Feb. 2001. Mimanet. 18 Feb. 2005
.
Stevens, Rosemary. The Regency Era. 19 Feb. 2005 <
http://users.visi.net/~rosemary/ regency.html>.
Walvin, James. English Urban life 1776-1851. London: Hutchinson, 1984.
The then got breakfast before he left for either PE or combat skills. He had lunch then continued on with what he was doing before until 4pm. Sometimes he would have a night duty where he had to guard the area.
built libraries, gave land to farmers and let people go on ships for free or they had a cheaper fare. A few of
the leisure activities Pompeii and Herculaneum have shown the vast range of activities hat was available to all the people no matter if in the upper class or the lower class of society in Pompeii and Herculaneum
...to be done to keep the world running and it was not that hard to find a decent job. For the most part, this was an age where there was a lot of change. Change occurred in the medical sciences, fashion, weapons, and more. This era is one of the many building blocks of today's advanced civilization.
ways that leisure time is spent by women has indeed benefited them in both the workplace and at home. This position requires a closer look at specific leisure activities; where and with whom they are spent, and the ultimate effect that these activities had on society and gender roles. More significantly however, is how the establishment of leisure activities for women came about, rather than the simple change in availability of such activities. First let s look at Peiss s position on the matter of how cheap amusements challenged gender traditions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
the luxury of having servants to take care of them, and tend to everything they could possibly
and many were on duty all day, so they were already exhausted when the Great
produce their products or services much quicker and efficiently, it allowed them to use space
co-existed with their people and made sure that a good kill was worth the effort and danger that
servants and expenses. Under servants they had to worry about their wages, food for them, and
In their daily activities they primarily attended to their live stock and crops and anything else their farm needed. They used the same old tools they had for centuries; the tools their ancestors developed. The whole family work literally all day as hard as they could. Even the children put in their part. The boys helped their farther with the crops and the girls helped their mother tend to the livestock and/or make food.
In Colonial America during the times of settling in to the new lands and building a society, the children and adults had fun while working and doing chores. The colonial folks worked hard but got plenty of time to participate in recreational activities. Just as a long day at work, any person wants to relax and unwind as well as socialize with friends. Recreation in colonial times contained many of the activities that we know of today- mostly because what we know has to have started somewhere by some folks. The people had both individual and sport teams, board games, card games, gambling, and so much more. However the main focus of the colonial eras’ recreation and leisure is that ia consisted mostly for men rather than the women. As I will
the job, and more than a few spoke English. Many of these men and women
In 12th Night by William Shakespeare, Sir Toby Belch’s and Sir Andrew Aguecheek’s sexist treatment of Maria characterizes them as boors. Toby advises Andrew to “front [Maria], board her, woo her, assail her,” treating her like an enemy ship to attack rather than an actual person (I.3.51). Besides this, the audience already knows Toby wants Andrew to marry Olivia and may even be interested in Maria himself, yet he still encourages Andrew to pursue Maria as a means of proving his manhood. These actions lie in stark contrast to those of higher class men such as Orsino, who pursues Olivia only with sincere, albeit shallow, affections. Shakespeare juxtaposes these two men in their amorous connections to distinguish the high class from the unmannerly,
time to engage in leisure activities such as entertainment and food as well as socializing. Consumers