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Running head: SOCIAL UPHEAVAL 1

Social Upheaval and the Industrial Revolution:

An Annotated Bibliography

Timothy Goss

Emporia State University

SOCIAL UPHEAVAL 2

Social Upheaval and the Industrial Revolution:

An Annotated Bibliography

Austen, J. (1815). Emma. London: Penguin Classics.

Emma is Austen’s fourth novel and the last of her novels to be published prior to her

death. In this novel, Austen examines the idleness of the nineteenth-century upper class.

This idleness could be argued to be a reason why the merchant class was so able to

overtake the well-born populace in terms of wealth and power. It is also important to note

Austen’s continuation of the themes of social mobility and the blending of social class

structures.

Burney, F. (1778), Evelina. London: Penguin Classics.

Evelina is Burney’s first published work. In this novel, Burney leads a young woman

through the confusing social structures of eighteenth-century England. In many ways,

Evelina challenges the purpose of these social conventions, but more importantly, the

complex structures within the novel are reflective of the effort by the seventeenth and

eighteenth-century gentry to keep the rising merchant class from entering the upper

reaches of the social hierarchy.

Coward, B. (1998). Social change and continuity: England 1550-1750. Revised edition.

London: Longman.

Coward’s book presents an overview of the social structures in England that led up to and

surrounded the birth of the novel. The book is split into three major sections: “The

Structure of Early Modern English Society,” “Changing Material Conditions,” and

“Changing Ideas.” This book also includes two follow up sections: “Assessment” and

“Documents.” The writing is comprehensive, yet easily understandable for those who are

SOCIAL UPHEAVAL 3

new to the subject area and helps to paint the social context in which the novel first

appeared as a literary form.

Crook, D. P. (1965). American democracy in English politics 1815-50. Oxford: Clarendon.

This book is essential in understanding the way American politics influenced England

during the early nineteenth-century. It examines the way the political structure of the

British reacted to the mass exodus of its citizens who sought a system of government that

catered to individuality and a more complete set of basic civil liberties. In this time,

America was considered to be the utopia and England was considered to be static in

terms of progressiveness. These changes to the world stage caused England to transform

its theories about the value of tradition and explore new ways to approach its cultural

identity. This book is written from a historical perspective rather than as an agenda-

based telling of the story and it is written from several different viewpoints in order to

paint the most complete picture possible.

D'Albertis, D. (1997). The domestic drone: Margaret Oliphant and a political history of the

novel. Studies in English literature, 1500-1900 37(4), Questia, Retrieved from

www.questia.com.

This article discusses the nature of female writers in the days of the early novel and how

Oliphant was breaking those stereotypes. According to D’Albertis, Oliphant paved the

way for the political novel which is even more stunning considering her gender. This

article is interesting, though too short to do much more than conjure up a series of

questions. Still, sometimes that is what a researcher needs most, questions.