Being Pretty in the Eighteenth Century

Uncovering how and why eighteenth-century definitions of beauty established cultural beliefs that continue to persist, Katherine Aske explores the ways female beauty was described, interpreted, celebrated, criticised and recreated between 1690 and 1801.

Eighteenth-century Britain saw a surge of publications discussing the subject of beauty through scientific theories, aesthetic philosophy and social experience. Beauty’s physical ideals at this time – symmetrical features, fair skin and rosy cheeks – were aligned with overtly feminine qualities, such as delicacy, virtue and sensibility. Yet women’s beauty could also incite sexual desire and accusations of pride, foolishness and falsity. Tracing the understanding of beauty through discussions of physiognomy, aesthetics, social behaviour, cosmetics, and literary depictions of the ideal woman, Aske dissects the definition of beauty as a combination of exterior and interior qualities. She investigates beauty’s paradoxical interpretations and unpicks the attempts to rationalise a definition of beauty through the idiom that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

By arguing that the conceptualisation of beauty amplified existing cultural, gendered and racial prejudices, Aske showcases how beauty illuminated important sociocultural factors and is a topic as relevant today as it was in the eighteenth century.