Orienting Virtue: Civic Identity and Orientalism in Britain's Global Eighteenth Century

In eighteenth-century British literature, the concept of virtue was often assumed but not explicitly defined. Bethany Williamson's book "Orienting Virtue" explores how England's sense of collective virtue was influenced and informed by Eastern empires, particularly in the context of global trade networks. She shows how writers used virtue claims to navigate the challenges of defining moral value in a dynamic world and to imagine a middle way between preserving ancient ideals and adapting to complex global realities. The book emphasizes the ongoing importance of balancing competing responsibilities and interests as citizens of nations and the world.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 270 pages
Publication date: 18 October 2022
Publisher: University of Virginia Press

The concept of virtue is pervasive in eighteenth-century British literature, yet its precise definition is frequently assumed rather than elucidated. By merging two significant strands of eighteenth-century scholarship—one on republican civic identity and the mythic legacy of the freeborn Briton, and the other on how England's global encounters were shaped by orientalist fantasies—Orienting Virtue explores how England's perception of collective virtue was influenced and informed by Eastern empires. Bethany Williamson demonstrates how England's quest to define and uphold national virtue was hindered by the challenge of articulating an absolute concept of moral value in the context of dynamic global trade networks. As writers framed England's story of exceptional liberties outside the rise and fall narrative commonly attributed to other empires, virtue claims concealed anxieties about England's precarious position on the global stage, particularly in relation to the Ottoman, Mughal, and Far Eastern empires. By tracing the valences of virtue across the century's political crises and diverse literary genres, Williamson illustrates how writers consistently employed virtue claims to envision a middle path between preserving ancient ideals and adapting to complex global realities.

Orienting Virtue concludes by emphasizing the ongoing urgency of balancing competing responsibilities and interests as citizens of both nations and the world.

Weight: 418g
Dimension: 151 x 229 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780813947617