Fashionable Acts: Opera and Elite Culture in London, 1780-1880 (Becoming Modern: New Nineteenth-Century Studies) Review

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Fashionable Acts: Opera and Elite Culture in London, 1780-1880 (Becoming Modern: New Nineteenth-Century Studies) Review"Fashionable Acts" is a closely-observed study of the microcosm of the audiences of the London opera world for what the changing behavior of this audience--i. e., the "fashionable acts"--tells about the process of democratization of the society. In the late 1700s, opera-going was essentially an occasion for socializing among the aristocracy; which at the time were the politically-connected and politically-influential. Socializing at the opera was a continuation of the socializing that was carried on at the social clubs, exclusive residences, and chambers of royalty that were in the same neighborhood as the major opera house, the Queen's theater. This socializing involved political dealmaking, searching for suitable marriage partners, ostentatious display of younger men, and indications of the rising or falling influence of various individuals as indicated by who was seated near whom and who was spending time with whom. Hall-Witt--an independent scholar teaching part-time at Smith--also observes the role of many aristocratic women as "gatekeepers" in that they held certain subscription boxes and remain seated for men to go them in their rounds of socializing. The opera being performed on the stage was almost incidental with the bustling socializing.
By the end of the 1800s, this had changed to where the audience silently, and appreciatively, watched the opera. Opera-going still had some vestiges of its former significant as a showplace for social standing. But this was communicated basically simply by attendance, to this extent copying a ritual of the aristocracy. Along with attendance, where one sat during a performance indicated one's social rank--which by then was more earned or assumed than granted by birthright--as the better seats cost more. By the latter 1800s, businessmen outnumbered aristocrats at the London operas. The socializing was replaced by silent watching not only because of new ideas about regard for others in public places; but also because members of the audience did not know one another as had those in the relatively small circle of aristocrats of the latter 1700s. Moreover, the growing class of businessmen who were becoming the new most significant political group conducted their affairs in the privacy of offices or at meetings.
Becoming examples of decorous behavior at the opera was one conspicuous way the aristocracy tried to maintain its social standing and influence. But in this, it was adopting behavior of the democratic social elements rather than confirming or exercising meaningful social or political force. Changes in opera reviewing with different periodicals, the diminished place of women, and new tastes in opera (e. g., preferences for Mozart over Italian operas) are among other germane topics brought in in this distinctive work of cultural studies in which Hall-Witt provides a bounty of material while keeping a sharp, revealing focus.Fashionable Acts: Opera and Elite Culture in London, 1780-1880 (Becoming Modern: New Nineteenth-Century Studies) Overview

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