Elizabeth Montagu
This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2023) |
Elizabeth Montagu (née Robinson; 2 October 1718 – 25 August 1800) was a British social reformer, patron of the arts,
Early life
She was born in
While young, Elizabeth became a friend of
Marriage to Montagu
In 1738, Montagu wrote to Harley explaining that she had no desire for men or marriage. She saw marriage as a rational and expedient convention and did not suppose it possible to love a man. In 1742 she married Edward Montagu, grandson of the Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich, who owned numerous coal mines and had several rents and estates in Northumberland. She was 22 and he was 50 years old. The marriage was advantageous, but apparently not very passionate. All the same, she bore a son, John, the next year, and she loved her child immensely. When the child died unexpectedly in 1744, she was devastated. She and Edward remained friendly throughout their remaining time together, but there were no more children or pregnancies. Prior to the loss of her son, she had not been very religious, but his death brought her to take religion increasingly seriously. Meanwhile, her sister, Sarah Scott, was also growing increasingly devout.
Elizabeth was accompanied most of the time by a
Beginning in 1750, she and Edward established a routine, where they would winter in London in Mayfair and then in the spring go to Sandleford in Berkshire, which had been his since 1730. He would then go on to Northumberland and Yorkshire to manage his holdings, while she would occasionally accompany him to the family manor house at East Denton Hall, a mansion dating from 1622 on the West Road in Newcastle upon Tyne.
She was a shrewd businesswoman, despite affecting to patronise Northumbrian society for its practical conversation. Though acting as
Salon and cultural life
In London during the 1750s, Elizabeth began to be a celebrated hostess. She organized literary breakfasts with Gilbert West,
By 1770, Montagu's home on Hill Street had become the premier
Montagu also held similar events at her residence in the centre house (No. 16) of the Royal Crescent, Bath.[2] In Bath she also lived at Edgar Buildings; Orange Court; Gay Street and Queens Parade.[3]
Some years after Montagu's death, there appeared a poem by James Woodhouse, who had served the family as land bailiff and steward. This criticized her for being proud and vain.[4] Woodhouse wrote that she patronized poets:
For they could best bestow delightful dow'rs, by flattering speech, or fam'd poetic pow'rs.
Bluestocking work and writing
Elizabeth, as a Bluestocking, was called the "Queen of the Blues". She led and hosted the Blue Stockings Society of England from about 1750. The loose organization of privileged women with an interest in education waned in popularity at the end of the 18th century. It gathered to discuss literature and also invited educated men to participate. Talk of politics was prohibited; literature and the arts were the main subjects. Many Bluestocking women supported each other in intellectual endeavours such as reading, art work, and writing. Many also published literature.[5]
Elizabeth Montagu published two works in her lifetime. George Lyttelton in 1760 encouraged Elizabeth to write Dialogues of the Dead, and she contributed three sections to the work anonymously. (Her authorship is testified elsewhere.) It consists of a series of conversations between the living and the illustrious dead, and works as a satire of 18th-century vanity and manners. In 1769, she published An Essay on the Writings and Genius of Shakespear. In it, she proclaims Shakespeare to be the greatest English poet, and in fact the greatest poet of any nation. She also attacks Samuel Johnson's 1765 Preface to Shakespeare for not having gone on to praise Shakespeare's plays enough. While Johnson had dealt with text, history, and the circumstances of editing, Montagu wrote instead about the characters, plots, and beauties of the verse in Shakespeare and saw in him a championing of all things inherently English. When the book was initially published anonymously, it was thought to be by Joseph Warton, but by 1777 her name appeared on the title page. Johnson, for his part, was estranged from Montagu at this point.
In the late 1760s, Edward Montagu fell ill, and Elizabeth took care of him, although she resented giving up her freedom. In 1766 her friend John Gregory came to stay and he brought two of his daughters. Montagu was captivated by the two girls and the four of them went on a Scottish tour. When they returned John Gregory had to return home but Montagu persuaded him to leave the "dear dear little girls" with her. In return she undertook to advise him on their education.[6]
In 1770 the Gregorys returned and it was agreed that Montagu would take Dorothea Gregory as her companion. The arrangement worked well as Dorothea took on jobs for her like driving the carriage and being a confidante. Dorothea's future seemed secure but she wanted a partner and Montagu was insistent that the only candidate was her nephew.[6]
Her husband died in 1775. In 1776, she adopted her nephew, the orphan of her brother. Matthew Robinson, the child, kept his family name, but he was named Elizabeth's heir. At that point, the coal and landholdings Montagu passed on to Elizabeth accounted for an income of £7,000 a year. (She managed her wealth and estates well, and by her death her coal income was worth 10,000 pounds a year.)[citation needed] In 1782 Montagu was arranging for her nephew and Dorothea to meet. Dorothea was not attracted to him at all and in the autumn she went on holiday and agreed to marry Archibald Alison (1757–1839). Montagu was still annoyed in 1784 when Dorothea married.[6]
In 1777, Montagu began work on Montagu House in Portman Square in London, where she moved in 1781, on land leased for 99 years. She also expanded Sandleford Priory in the 1780s, and had Capability Brown design its garden and alter the park. She died at Montagu House in London on 25 August 1800 and left Sandleford and all of her money to her nephew.
Works
Elizabeth Montagu was the author of two works published in her lifetime: three sections in George Lyttelton's Dialogues of the Dead (1760) and An Essay on the Writings and Genius of Shakespeare (1769). In addition, two collections of Montagu's letters were published posthumously.
Dialogues of the Dead was a series of critiques of 18th-century society. In Dialogue 26, Hercules is engaged in a discussion of virtue. In Dialogue 27, a character, Mrs. Mopish, cannot go the Elysian Fields because she is endlessly distracted by worldly influences. In Dialogue 28, a bookseller explains to Plutarch the difficulties of publishing in modern society.
An Essay on the Writings and Genius of Shakespeare defends
Letters
Montagu was a copious writer of letters to her coterie and beyond. They include discussions of health, domestic arraignments, travel plans and reports of social events. About a third of her correspondence focuses on culture such as theatre, opera, public spectacles, moral philosophy and divinity.[7] Of these topics, history was discussed more than twice as much as any other topic.[7]
Her most frequent correspondence on literature was with her sister, Sarah Scott, followed by her friends, Elizabeth Carter and Gilbert West.[7] She and Scott were both avid readers of published letters throughout their lives, reading collections by Pope and Swift.[8] This influenced the women's own letter writing. Their frequency of correspondence waxed and waned over the years depending on the circumstances of their lives;[9] Montagu is believed to have written to Scott more frequently than she replied.[7]
Similarly, Montagu is said to have sent more letters to Elizabeth Carter than she received from her.[7] Montagu was an ardent supporter of Carter, despite her friend being of a lower class. She respected her skill and virtue. Montagu felt comfortable enough to correspond with Carter about the responsibility of great wealth.[10]
Gilbert West influenced Montagu's thinking about religion, history and literature. He also affected her style of writing for a time. Based on his example, she began writing in more formal syntax, but eventually became irritated by the restrictions and reverted to her freer, more natural style.[10]
Montagu corresponded with George Lyttelton frequently about literature and history, a relationship which would later lead to Lyttelton to include three of her works in his Dialogues of the Dead. Their letters were known to have markedly different tones: hers were serious and intellectual, his responses tended towards the flirtatious.[11]
Montagu maintained a close relationship with the elder statesman, William Pulteney, Lord Bath. This was purely emotional, but described as a "pseudo-courtship".[10]
A collection of Montagu's letters was first published 1809 by her nephew and heir, Matthew Montagu, under the title, The Letters of Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu, with Some of the Letters of her Correspondents. The selection reflects a concern for Montagu's moral reputation. Another edition of her letters was released in 1906 by Matthew's granddaughter, Emily J. Climenson, and her friend, Reginald Blunt. This revised collection expanded on Montagu's view of the social world, including fashion, politics, and nobility.[7]
Politics
Elizabeth Montagu was interested in the political debates of her day and she contributed to the political process in the various ways open to her as an elite woman and female intellectual. Within the context of these male relationships, particularly via her husband and friends George Lyttleton and William Pulteney( the Earl of Bath) Montagu had an opportunity to discuss political philosophy as well as practical politics; developing her own political positions. She represented her interest in the political realm as an extension of family duty and expression of female tenderness. She was therefore able to forward her own opinions within the prevailing gender conventions of the time without appearing transgressive.[12]
Legacy
Swansea University aims to produce a fully annotated, digital, critical, and open-access edition of the extant correspondence of Elizabeth Montagu. Elizabeth Montagu Correspondence Online (EMCO) offers access to transcriptions and facsimiles of original manuscripts, accurate and exhaustive notes, and the most recently discovered letters.[13]
The Royal Crescent Hotel in Bath is located at a former residence of Elizabeth Montagu 16 Royal Crescent. In May a new restaurant Montagu Mews was opened and named in her honour.[3]
References
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19014. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ISBN 978-0-905459-34-9.
- ^ a b "Gallery". royalcrescentbath.co.uk. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
- ^ Hornbeak, Katherine G. (1949). Age of Johnson, Essays presented to Chauncey Brewster Tinker. New Haven, USA: Yale University Press. pp. 349–361.
- ^ Tinker, Chauncey Brewster (1915). The salon and English letters: chapters on the interrelations of literature and society in the age of Johnson. Macmillan.
- ^ , retrieved 7 August 2023
- ^ a b c d e f Eger, Elizabeth (2010). Bluestockings: Women of Reason from Enlightenment to Romanticism. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
- ^ Berg, Temma (2013). Women, Gender, and Print Culture in Eighteenth-Century Britain: Essays in Memory of Betty Rizzo. Lanham: Lehigh U P.
- ^ S2CID 145292355.
- ^ a b c Myers, Sylvia Harcstark (1990). The Bluestocking Circle: Women, Friendship, and the Life of the Mind in Eighteenth-Century England. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- ^ Ellis, Markman (2010). "'An Author in Form': Women Writers, Print Publication, and Elizabeth Montagu's Dialogues of the Dead". ELH. 2: 417–438.
- ^ NEGOTIATING INTERESTS: ELIZABETH MONTAGU’S POLITICAL COLLABORATIONS WITH EDWARD MONTAGU; GEORGE, LORD LYTTELTON; AND WILLIAM PULTENEY, LORD BATH Elizabeth Stearns Bennett, B.A., M.A. UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS December 2009 Phd Thesis
- ^ "General Introduction from the Editor-in-Chief". emco.swansea.ac.uk. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
Further reading
- Eger, Elizabeth (2008). Brilliant women : 18th-century bluestockings. New Haven, Ct.: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300141030.
- Pohl, Nicole (2003). Reconsidering the Bluestockings. San Marino, Calif: Huntington Library. pp. 30–31, 60, 105, 263. ISBN 9780873282024.
- Pohl, Nicole (2019). "'The Commerce of Life': Elizabeth Montagu (1718–1800)". Huntington Library Quarterly. 81 (4): 443–463. S2CID 159969104.
External links
- Profile and an interesting pictorial mapping of correspondence
- Works by Elizabeth Montagu at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Elizabeth Montagu at Internet Archive
- "Archival material relating to Elizabeth Montagu". UK National Archives.
- Portraits of Elizabeth Montagu (née Robinson) (1718–1800) at the National Portrait Gallery, London