Bath
Bath is a curious tourist attraction because its historical significance is as a tourist attraction. Relatively wealthy people in the modern world travel to Bath to find out what it is was like for relatively wealthy people in the 18th or 19th (or 1st!) century to travel to Bath.
I’d like you to be an “analytical tourist,” one who enjoys the beauty and historical interest of Bath but also observes the ways that modern day Bath “packages” itself for consumption and pleasure. Henry Tilney offers a good example of how to appreciate Bath, remaining highly conscious of the conventions that structure enjoyment of the place.
How do the various tourist attractions ask us to imagine the past? What aspects of the past does it highlight and what does it hide from view? Does it ask us, for example, to be aware of sexual and social inequalities? Does it encourage us to think critically about the way that humans tend to project their own fantasies onto the past?
Jessica’s bottle of Bath
Discussion Area - Leave a Comment