Britain's First Celebrity
So...here's the main body of the presentation I mentioned in my last post. Pictures will follow soon; it'll take me a while to photoshop the screencaps, and uni pics will be posted as soon as I find my camera - can't think where the hell I've put it.
My seminar subject was to answer the question 'Who was Britain's first Celebrity', so essentially the first step was to find out what the academic definition of a celebrity actually was.
Daniel Boorstin (1972) claimed that: Celebrities are actually a publicized version of what we would like to be. They are both ordinary and extraordinary, typical enough to be accessible and recognizable, yet individuated enough to be unique and interesting", while Elizabrth Barry argues that, in order for an individual to be classified as a celebrity, interest in an individual must extend beyond their public/professional lives and into their private lives.
Chris Rojek, a prominent theorist in the field of celebrity culture, claims that there are three types of celebrity: 'Ascribed' - where a person is essentially born to greatness, e.g. the likes of Hercules; 'Achieved' - where a man or women earns their fame through doing great deeds or creating something special; and 'Attributed' - where a person is famous for no reason, such as Big Brother contestants.
On the basis of these theories, I decided that the contenders for Britain's first celebrity were Baron Byron, Viscount Nelson and the Duke of Wellington. Although fame, in essence, has existed for as long as mankind has, interest in the public life of great figures began to occur in the 18th and 19th centuries; thus exluding possible candidates such as Henry VIII and Thomas More.
Byron, one of the most influential poets of the Romantic movement, is a classic example of 'Achieved' celebrity - he became an overnight success. His poems were in such vogue that publishers could not keep up with demand; and his work became the fashionable thing to discuss when gathered in company. The public became obsessed with his doings; the newspapers reported where he went, who he spoke with and what he did....so much so that his wife labelled the fascination surrounding him 'Byromania'.
Byron was also very conscious of self-promotion - he would commission portraits of himself in certain stances; paralleling how modern celebrities manipulate the paparazzi.
However, Byron also serves as the perfect example of what Christ Rojek calls the 'Ascent, Descent and Redemption of Celebrity'. The media attention he craved proved to be his downfall. The press reported every detail of his many extra-marital affairs, aided by women he had cast aside - Lady Caroline Lamb in particular. When tales of an alleged affair with his half-sister emerged, accompanied by tales of supposed homosexual relationships, England became scandalised and Byron eventually had to retreat abroad. After meeting his death in the Greek war of independance, however, Byron once again became a figure of admiration in the British public's eyes and his celebrity status has endured to this day.
Will continue with part 2 tomorrow, as I'm proof-reading my dissertation tonight :)
My seminar subject was to answer the question 'Who was Britain's first Celebrity', so essentially the first step was to find out what the academic definition of a celebrity actually was.
Daniel Boorstin (1972) claimed that: Celebrities are actually a publicized version of what we would like to be. They are both ordinary and extraordinary, typical enough to be accessible and recognizable, yet individuated enough to be unique and interesting", while Elizabrth Barry argues that, in order for an individual to be classified as a celebrity, interest in an individual must extend beyond their public/professional lives and into their private lives.
Chris Rojek, a prominent theorist in the field of celebrity culture, claims that there are three types of celebrity: 'Ascribed' - where a person is essentially born to greatness, e.g. the likes of Hercules; 'Achieved' - where a man or women earns their fame through doing great deeds or creating something special; and 'Attributed' - where a person is famous for no reason, such as Big Brother contestants.
On the basis of these theories, I decided that the contenders for Britain's first celebrity were Baron Byron, Viscount Nelson and the Duke of Wellington. Although fame, in essence, has existed for as long as mankind has, interest in the public life of great figures began to occur in the 18th and 19th centuries; thus exluding possible candidates such as Henry VIII and Thomas More.
Byron, one of the most influential poets of the Romantic movement, is a classic example of 'Achieved' celebrity - he became an overnight success. His poems were in such vogue that publishers could not keep up with demand; and his work became the fashionable thing to discuss when gathered in company. The public became obsessed with his doings; the newspapers reported where he went, who he spoke with and what he did....so much so that his wife labelled the fascination surrounding him 'Byromania'.
Byron was also very conscious of self-promotion - he would commission portraits of himself in certain stances; paralleling how modern celebrities manipulate the paparazzi.
However, Byron also serves as the perfect example of what Christ Rojek calls the 'Ascent, Descent and Redemption of Celebrity'. The media attention he craved proved to be his downfall. The press reported every detail of his many extra-marital affairs, aided by women he had cast aside - Lady Caroline Lamb in particular. When tales of an alleged affair with his half-sister emerged, accompanied by tales of supposed homosexual relationships, England became scandalised and Byron eventually had to retreat abroad. After meeting his death in the Greek war of independance, however, Byron once again became a figure of admiration in the British public's eyes and his celebrity status has endured to this day.
Will continue with part 2 tomorrow, as I'm proof-reading my dissertation tonight :)