Disruptive soldiers : literary responses to the standing army controversy (1688-1846)

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] "The aim of this thesis is to provide a sustained consideration of literary engagements with the Standing Army Controversy in Britain and America from the Glorious Revolution until the start of the Mexican-American War (1688 -1846). More specifically, I examine a selection of prominent literary examples from the period and situate them within the context of historical and political circumstances in order to chart a trend in how writers of the period portrayed common soldiers. In the scope of this project, I focus only on literary resistance to the emergence of a standing army in Britain and America, and more specifically, how literary portrayals of common soldiers as disruptive forces to the domestic sphere represents a broader cultural anxiety towards a permanent military apparatus. What follows, is a demonstration, through a small sampling of texts, of the ways in which poets, novelists and playwrights made literary contributions to the issue by employing what I refer to as the trope of the Disruptive Soldier. This trope, though relatively fluid throughout the considered period, functioned as a response to socio-political fears stemming from constant warfare, professional soldiers, and permanent armies."--Introduction