| dc.description | Public celebrations are useful arenas in which to study changing social relationships in nineteenth-century urban society. In Saint John and Halifax, early Victorian celebrations encouraged the participation of the lower orders in ox roasts and folk sports. By mid-century, however, these activities had begun to decline, in response to the pressures of urbanization, class development, and urban reformism. Urbanization fragmented the communal atmosphere of early Victorian displays, while class differentiation created a desire among the emerging middle class to maintain social distance through exclusive and "respectable" celebration activities. Urban reformers attempted to create the "respectable celebration" by eradicating the objectionable aspects of "traditional" celebrations--drunkenness, rowdyism, and animal sports--and by providing instead more discerning and instructive alternatives. By the late nineteenth century, the emphasis of public celebrations had shifted from physical to aesthetic gratification, as celebrations were transformed from participant to spectator events. Nonetheless, celebrants adapted to these changes by informally participating in the spectacles, and by taking advantage of the alternatives created by commercialization. | en_US |
