At the end of the eighteenth century, a new literary genre rose dedicated to teaching good manners and behavior. As literacy became more widespread and the publishing industry grew throughout the next century, guides to the rules and models of social interaction became popular.
Written in a clear, didactic manner, they were dedicated to the “science of civilization” and introduced their readers to the signs marking the modern ideas about social life. They also show us the limits on contemporary hygiene and polite behavior. Directly, almost sharply, the manuals gave clear warnings, not just instructions on how to set out the knives and forks. Advice was given on the daily evacuation of the bowels, personal cleanliness (to avoid clouds of insects), bathing every fortnight or at least once a month, and changing one’s underclothes as soon as they were dirty, sweaty, or damp. The Imperial Cook or The New Art of the Cook and Butler in all its Aspects, written and published in Brazil for the first time in 1852, remarked:
It is at table that one sees the clumsiness and faulty education of a man who is not a gastronome… he helps himself to various dishes with the same spoon he has already put in his mouth twenty times, knocks his teeth with his fork, picks at them with it or his fingers or knife, which disgusts those seated next to him. When he drinks, he never wipes his mouth… he gulps, and coughs as a result, spitting half of what he has drunk into the glass and spattering his neighbors, making disgusting grimaces. If he tries to pick up a piece of meat, he cannot find the joint, and after vainly trying to cut it, he breaks the bones and splashes those sitting next to him with the gravy, staining himself with the grease and bits that fall into his napkin, whose corner he has struck in his buttonhole as he sat down. Sometimes, too, he spills coffee from his cup or saucer onto his coat. True, these accidents are not criminal acts, but they are ridiculous and annoying to decent people.
Note:
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Source:
Schwarcz, Lilia Moritz., and John Gledson. “How to be Brazilian Nobility.” The Emperor's Beard: Dom Pedro II and the Tropical Monarchy of Brazil. Hill and Wang, 2004. 147-48. Print.
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