Woods, Kathryn. 2017. Facing Identity in a “Faceless” Society: Physiognomy, Facial Appearance and Identity Perception in Eighteenth-Century London’. Cultural and Social History, 14(2), pp. 137-153. ISSN 1478-0038 [Article]

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Abstract or Description

English men and women confronted many new questions about the relationship between identity and appearance during the eighteenth century. How did the face reveal information about a person’s character, morality, health, class, gender, nationality and race? How should faces be perceived in forms of social interaction? Could appearances be trusted? Through analysis of physiognomic texts, urban literature, aesthetic treatises, conduct books and cosmetic manuals, this article examines the changing social and cultural meanings attached to the face, and developments in the ways contemporary authors advised it should be ‘read’ as a signifier of character, identity and social difference in eighteenth-century London.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number (DOI):	doi.org/10.1080/14780038.2017.1290998
Keywords:	face; identity; physiognomy; social difference; beauty; eighteenth-century
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	History
Dates:	Date Event 1 March 2017 Published
Item ID:	31035
Date Deposited:	07 Jan 2022 14:47
Last Modified:	07 Jan 2022 14:47
Peer Reviewed:	Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/31035

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