18th century London and early celebrity culture

[concertigrossi]

There's an interesting article in tomorrows NYT Style section on 18th century English tabloids.

Before Lindsay or Paris, There Was Mrs. L_fle

Comments

[soubie.livejournal.com]

When Pope composed his satirical epic, he was shining a spotlight on a suspected affair between the British aristocrats Arabella Fermor and Lord Robert Petre, two mainstays of the London party scene. (The intrigue became common knowledge when Petre publicly cut off a lock of Fermor’s hair.) In doing so, Pope provided the template for today’s gossip writers: a middle-class striver who hung on the fringes of patrician circles, privy to upper-class dirt while maintaining his ironic distance.

That's interesting. We studied this poem in my first year at university, but nobody ever compared Pope to a gossip columnist, or mentioned that Fermor and Petre's relationship was more than the poem claims it is.

All these 'famous' people who made thier names mostly by expensive partying, all these hacks deseminating scandel under a mantle of concern for fallen women. Nothing is really new, is it? Now whenever someone mutters: "You used to have to do something to get into the papers..."...............

[concertigrossi.livejournal.com]

I've read (and really enjoyed) the poem, but aside from a romanceish novel based on the scandal, I'm not that familiar with the background...

Nothing new at all under the sun... look at "The Tale of Genji!" :)