2 Jack Sheppard, the Newgate novel
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Rob Breton
Abstract
This chapter expands on Chapter 1 by looking at the way the Newgate novel emerged out of Newgate calendars. The focus of the chapter, however, is on William Ainsworth Harrison’s Jack Sheppard (1839–40). The chapter examines the way that the novel was read in relation to the craze it initiated. It examines the reasons why authorities understood the novel as subversive, as potentially lending force to Chartism and radical politics. Unlike the dominant criticism that tends to separate out and isolate the fully recognised cultural confrontations in the novel, the chapter locates radical energies and direct political content in it. Though the novel also includes conservative content, the amenability to radicalism demonstrates yet again that there was an understood market for radical politics.
Abstract
This chapter expands on Chapter 1 by looking at the way the Newgate novel emerged out of Newgate calendars. The focus of the chapter, however, is on William Ainsworth Harrison’s Jack Sheppard (1839–40). The chapter examines the way that the novel was read in relation to the craze it initiated. It examines the reasons why authorities understood the novel as subversive, as potentially lending force to Chartism and radical politics. Unlike the dominant criticism that tends to separate out and isolate the fully recognised cultural confrontations in the novel, the chapter locates radical energies and direct political content in it. Though the novel also includes conservative content, the amenability to radicalism demonstrates yet again that there was an understood market for radical politics.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- Acknowledgements viii
- Introduction 1
- 1 The old, new, borrowed, and blue Newgate calendar 19
- 2 Jack Sheppard, the Newgate novel 47
- 3 Penny radicalism? 86
- 4 Mysteries and ambiguities 134
- 5 Distant friends of the people 175
- Select bibliography 222
- Index 230
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- Acknowledgements viii
- Introduction 1
- 1 The old, new, borrowed, and blue Newgate calendar 19
- 2 Jack Sheppard, the Newgate novel 47
- 3 Penny radicalism? 86
- 4 Mysteries and ambiguities 134
- 5 Distant friends of the people 175
- Select bibliography 222
- Index 230
