How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England
A Guide for Knaves, Fools, Harlots, Cuckolds, Drunkards, Liars, Thieves, and Braggarts
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4.0 • 5 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
Offensive language, insolent behavior, slights, brawls, and scandals come alive in Ruth Goodman’s uproarious history for mischievous Anglophiles.
With this “impeccable” (BBC History) chronicle, acclaimed popular historian Ruth Goodman reveals a Renaissance Britain particularly rank with troublemakers. From snooty needlers who took aim with a cutting “thee,” to lowbrow drunkards with revolting table manners, Goodman’s “gleeful and illuminating” (Booklist, starred review) portrait of offenses most foul draws upon advice manuals, court cases, and sermons. Wicked readers will delight in learning why quoting Shakespeare was poor form, and why curses hurled at women were almost always about sex (no surprise there). “Accessible, fun, and historically accurate” (Publishers Weekly, starred review), How to Behave Badly is a celebration of one of history’s naughtiest periods, when derision was an art form.
“Oh, how I wish Ruth Goodman could be my tutor. But settling in for one of her history lessons is better than second best.” — Alicia Becker, New York Times Book Review
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This entertaining, excellent book from Goodman (How to Be a Tudor) provides a window into the nitty-gritty of daily life for merchants, street sellers, and others listed in the subtitle in 1550 1660 England. Goodman writes conversationally about both pointedly bad behavior for example clarifying in frank terms the meanings of insults based on body parts and functions and contrasting attempts to keep up with trendy continental manners. She details the clothing and etiquette trends drifting in from Spain and France and the peculiarities wrought by the English Civil War and its effects on propriety. As in her previous work, Goodman's scholarship is exemplary, and she sets the record straight on modern misperceptions of 16th- and 17th-century life; despite stereotypes to the contrary, for example, cleanliness and surprisingly precise meal etiquette were standard for most people. Illustrations depict such phenomena as complicated bows and fights between women in which the goal was to uncover each other's hair and imply the opponent was of loose moral character. Accessible, fun, and historically accurate, this etiquette guide will yield chuckles, surprises, and a greater understanding of everyday life in Renaissance England. Illus.
