Karen Halttunen. Confidence Men and Painted Women: A Study of Middle-Class Culture in America, 1830-1870.
Introduction | Overview | Social Conditions | Reactions | Outcomes | Commentary
Reactions
One reaction to the social conditions was the development of two separate codes of conduct, one to survive out in the world of strangers, in which opacity of character was required to avoid being at a disadvantage in the midsts of confidence men, and another for interacting with family and trusted friends, in which transparency of character was highly prized as a mark of sincerity. (p. 54-55) With this dual code of conduct, women acted as the arbiters of sentimental conduct, and the parlor became the central focus of its practice.
Individuals strove to demonstrate an internal moral character through outer manifest signs; codes of dress, behavior, and social ritual ensured the sentimental culture a uniform understanding of these signs. These codes changed in response to a need to re-establish sincerity that arose once it became ambiguous whether they were practiced out of sentiment or convention.