‘Nothing better than mirth and hilarity’: happiness, unhappiness, jest and sociability in the eighteenth century

Williams, A

Abstract:

It has been claimed that the eighteenth century invented happiness – or at least, began to entertain the notion that secular happiness could be expected as part of virtuous Christian life. Studies of the notion of happiness in this period have tended to focus on the philosophical dimensions of the concept. This essay offers a different perspective, by considering jest book culture and the idea of mirth through reading. It had long been argued that melancholy could be driven away by sociab...

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APA Style

Williams, A. (2015). ‘Nothing better than mirth and hilarity’: happiness, unhappiness, jest and sociability in the eighteenth century. English Literature, 2(1), 123–143.

MLA Style

Williams, A. “‘Nothing Better than Mirth and Hilarity’: Happiness, Unhappiness, Jest and Sociability in the Eighteenth Century.” English Literature, vol. 2, no. 1, Edizioni Ca’ Foscari, 2015, pp. 123–43.

Chicago Style

Williams, A. 2015. “‘Nothing Better than Mirth and Hilarity’: Happiness, Unhappiness, Jest and Sociability in the Eighteenth Century.” English Literature 2 (1): 123–43.
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