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"Sheer Tomfoolery and Empty Pleasures": Justifying Leisure in Great War London
Camara, Vincent
Camara, Vincent
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Using the issues of the London newspaper The Observer published in May 1915, this thesis investigates how various British upper- and middle-class leisure activities had been affected by the first spring of the First World War. Focusing on the activities most present in The Observer at this time—horse racing, cricket, public high society events, and a variety of theatrical productions—this thesis analyzes the nature of these activities in May 1915, with a view to how contemporary upper- and middle-class Britons condemned or justified the continuation of leisure activities during a war which had unprecedented impact on home front life. Through close reading and contextualized analysis of a condensed primary source base—one month of one newspaper—I argue that, generally speaking, the majority of upper- and middle-class Britons at this point in time did not have a moral issue with what appears to be an implicitly moral problem. Activities continued as much as it was possible to do so, in spite of guilt and perceived frivolity, ceasing only when the practical needs of the war demanded that cessation. The continuation of leisure activities was justified through the ways in which those activities could prove themselves as useful, in various ways, to the war effort.
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2026-04-30
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Vincent Camara - CAS College Honors Undergraduate Thesis.pdf
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- Embargoed until 2028-04-24
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History