Sympathy for the Devil: Crime and Emotions, 1670-1780

Abstract

This thesis examines crime narratives of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to explore why, in a period replete with violent death and crime, people read such texts. Using Sarah Ahmed’s statement that ‘what makes us feel [...] gives us a dwelling place’ as a framework, this thesis explores the sociability of crime and life in this period and argues for the importance of the ‘dwelling place’ provided by these narratives. Love, sympathy, anger, fear, and shame are interrogated through close readings of court reports, accounts from the Newgate prison chaplain, pamphlets, newspapers, and compilations of crimes. The eighteenth-century concept of sympathy and other emotions is explored through the work of John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Bernard Mandeville, David Hume, and Adam Smith to contextualise the analysis of this thesis. Additionally, a new way of looking at crime narratives is introduced through a concept of sympathetic self-love, based on the notion of self-love espoused by eighteenth-century moral philosopher Joseph Butler.

Within these texts can be found domestic details, this thesis argues, that were small but powerful with the ability to engage the emotions of readers and to create emotional webs, a concept that expands Ahmed’s theory of ‘stickiness’. In illuminating these granular details, this thesis seeks to demonstrate their importance not only to the engagement of readers with crime narratives but also to the origins of the genre of crime writing. Through these explorations, the ordinary person––as victim, criminal, passer-by, kind stranger, witness, or servant––is placed at the centre of this thesis which contributes to eighteenth-century studies of crime narratives, the history of the genre of crime writing, eighteenth-century everyday lives and people, and the history of emotions. It demonstrates how these narratives allowed a form of ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ to be felt as a route to the self while also allowing people to reflect on the intricacies of human nature.

Date of Award	11 Sept 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Winchester
Supervisor	Chris Mounsey (Supervisor) & Daniel Varndell (Supervisor)