Epilogue

Abstract

Taken in isolation, any of these chapters might stand alone as an examination of one aspect, and a perhaps not particularly central aspect of national character or identity. Taken as a whole, though, Baretti’s flippant condemnation of Dr Johnson’s disdain for the French begins to take on more colour, and a more credible and substantial position. (See French Journals of Mrs Thrale and Dr Johnson, p. 231 ff.) It holds up to examination so well that it appears fair to suggest that as a cultural icon, French culture and society must be viewed as a central, dominant force in English cultural life, as important as the John Bull nationalism relied upon by historians such as Linda Colley. The fact that the horrors of the Terror persuaded many thinkers that there was something inherently evil, not just comical, about the Monkey-race beyond the sea, could not have been foreseen during the watershed years of 1763 and 1783, and, even so, failed to prevent some from continuing their discourse after 1792.