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This thesis centers on the language of dress and the politics of display during the late Stuartdynasty (1660-88). In the late Stuart courts, fashion and material possessions became anextension of one's identity. As such, this study examines how elite Englishmen and womenviewed themselves, and others, through their clothing on the eve of Britain's birth inresponse to critical moments of identity crisis during the Restoration period. Whitehallcourtiers and London gentility utilized their physical appearance, specifically their clothing,accoutrements, and furnishings, to send messages in order to define themselves, particularlytheir "Englishness", in response to numerous unresolved issues of identity. Therefore, thisthesis argues that the roots of English national character were evident in the courts ofCharles II and James II as a portion of the English population bolstered together in defianceof the French culture that pervaded late seventeenth-century England. |
