… as a debutante from the country, getting as lost in the mazes of Vauxhall as in the unwritten rules of London’s polite assemblies. 6 The strict rules to be observed with regard to dancing partners do not allow girls even a polite negative …
… Balls in Austen’s novels serve as important occasions for staging social hierarchies and conducting courtship. Public assemblies, like the opening ball at Meryton in Pride and Prejudice (1813), were organised by subscription and offered …
… (Paris: L’Harmattan, 2004), pp. 147-150. At the same time, a less scientific public gathered in the spouting clubs or assemblies of the City of London where tradesmen, merchants and apprentices formed amateur societies desirous of …