The Phenomenon of the Coffee House — an Innovative Form of Leisure of London’s Educated Society of the Late Stuart Era or? Cover Image

Феномен кофейни — инновационная форма досуга Лондонского образованного общества эпохи поздних Стюартов или?
The Phenomenon of the Coffee House — an Innovative Form of Leisure of London’s Educated Society of the Late Stuart Era or?

Author(s): Vladimir Aleksandrovich Evseev
Subject(s): Cultural history, Social history, Social development, Rural and urban sociology, Sociology of Culture, 17th Century
Published by: Ивановский государственный университет
Keywords: a new kind of leisure; coffee shops; the era of the late Stuarts; the educated metropolitan society;

Summary/Abstract: Recreation and entertainment have always been an important part of a person’s daily life. The second half of the XVII century made significant changes in the usual way of spending time of the city dweller of England, and first of all of the capital. These changes were inextricably linked with the further growth of their well-being, which could be spent on new leisure activities. This aspect was facilitated by the fact that with the beginning of the Restoration, strict Puritan supervision over the sphere of recreation and entertainment weakened. The court nobility and the London urban elite become pioneers in the new kinds of leisure. In the reign of the late Stuarts, there is a certain transformation in the forms of recreation and entertainment compared to the times of Shakespeare. The phenomenon of the appearance of coffee shops testifies to the emergence of a new aesthetics of leisure of wealthy and educated social strata of the capital society of England of the late Stuart era. Coffee houses of this time serve as an example of the fact that there was a process of rationalization of leisure, i. e. the free pastime of the Englishman acquires practical meaning, closely intertwined with his aesthetic values and professional interests. Leisure in coffee shops becomes part of the business etiquette of the business circles of the City, which gathered in the coffee shops “Lloyd”, “Harvey” and “Jonathan”, located next to the Royal Exchange. The literary elite of the capital gathered in the coffee shops of “Wills” and “Button”, and the artistic bohemia in “Slauter”. Coffee shops have become a new form of leisure with higher aesthetic demands for their visitors and appropriate rules of conduct. However, the spirit of mercantilism and rationalism, which flourished in this era, led to the fact that some visitors to these institutions combined leisure and professional activities.

  • Issue Year: 2022
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 9-30
  • Page Count: 22
  • Language: Russian