Emotions, the law and the press in Britain: seduction and breach of promise suits, 1780-1830

Abstract

The role played by the press in shaping emotions is a topic of increasing interest. Moral panics and sexual scandals have long been recognised as key discursive sites in the shaping of modern Britain. This article contributes to that debate with an exploration of how the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century press shaped an emotional public opinion through the reporting of breach of promise and seduction suits. It argues that the press directed men into roles as defenders of the nation through their protection of female virtue, using emotion to invest the British public in nation-building.