Becoming Centaur: Eighteenth-Century Masculinity and English Horsemanship (Animalibus)

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Description

In this study of the relationship between men and their horses in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England, Monica Mattfeld explores the experience of horsemanship and the way it defined one’s gendered and political positions within society.

Men of the period used horses to turn out to be themselves, by way of the image of the centaur, into something other—something powerful, awe-inspiring, and mythical. Specializing in the manuals, memoirs, satires, images, and ephemera produced by probably the most period’s most influential equestrians, Mattfeld examines how the concepts and practices of horse husbandry evolved with regards to social, cultural, and political life. She looks closely on the role of horses on the planet of Thomas Hobbes and William Cavendish; the changes in human social behavior and horse handling ushered in by elite riding houses such as Angelo’s Academy and Mr. Carter’s; and the public perception of equestrian endeavors, from performances at places such as Astley’s Amphitheatre to the satire of Henry William Bunbury. All the way through, Mattfeld shows how horses aided the performance of idealized masculinity among communities of riders, in turn influencing how men were perceived in regard to status, reputation, and gender.

Drawing on human-animal studies, gender studies, and historical studies, Becoming Centaur offers a new account of masculinity that reaches beyond anthropocentrism to imagine the role of animals in shaping man.

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