The pleasure gardens of the eighteenth century were criticised as immoral, subversive and promoting the breakdown of class... but were they?

The pleasure gardens of the eighteenth century were criticised as immoral, subversive and promoting the breakdown of class and gender divisions, but were they really hotbeds of sin, or has the case been overstated?

Focussing on masquerades, the most vilified of pleasure garden events, this lecture will dive into what pleasure gardens were, who attended them and the, sometimes ludicrous and salacious, costumes they wore. It will also consider the criticism levelled at pleasure gardens and their masquerades. By placing these events within their wider social, cultural and political contexts, the lecture will explore how anxieties about masquerades often reflected broader fears about respectability and social change in eighteenth-century Britain, rather than the realities of behaviour within the gardens themselves.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Dr Kate Stephenson

Kate is a social historian and freelance heritage consultant based in Edinburgh. She specialises in the histories of clothing and sex and has featured on a range of podcasts as well as recording with BBC Alba and History Hit. She most recently appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Inside Health programme talking about the Rijksmuseum condom. She is also a published author with Exeter University Press and Pen & Sword and a keen eighteenth century and World War Two reenactor.

Description supplied by the event organiser.