The Political Basis of Dandyism in Edward Bulwer-Lytton's novel «Pelham, or The Adventures of a Gentleman»

The subject of this study is the external and internal aspects of dandyism described in the novel «Pelham, or The Adventures of a Gentleman» in 1828 by the English writer E. Bulwer-Lytton. The study examines: the style of a dandy in appearance and costume, the code of conduct of a dandy, the value content of dandyism, dandy personalities of the XIX century (such as D. Brummel, D. Byron, A. d'Orsay and others). Special attention is paid to the cultural background of the period of the late XVII – early XIX century, on the basis of which dandyism appeared and developed in England. The study uses a historical-comparative method, which consists in comparing the image of a dandy in a work and historical examples of a dandy. In addition, the ideology of dandyism is compared with the European political and legal thought of the late XVII – first half of the XIX century. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that through the study of historical sources and cultural background, having conducted a comparative analysis, it is possible to identify the influence of public thought, social struggle and political events in England and Europe at the end of the XVII – beginning of the XIX century on dandyism. After studying the text of the novel, sources and previous studies, it can be noted as a conclusion: the philosophy of Enlightenment influenced dandyism in the main way; Dandyism developed by the beginning of the XIX century and due to the socio-economic process of transition from feudalism to capitalism; From historical events, the origin of the dandy movement was influenced in some way by the European revolutions; Many dandies of the XIX century Sharing the ideas of individual freedom and individualism, they joined the ideology of classical and conservative liberalism.

Dandyism, History of culture, English culture, Literature, 19th century, Age of enlightenment, Dandy, Political philosophy, Philosophy of law, Classical literature