Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book addresses how single men and women bachelors, spinsters and the widowed negotiated their domestic lives. It seeks to embed the approaches within the study of the material culture of the home and everyday life. Works are at the core of a book organised more by theme than considerations of strict chronology. The book explains organisation and management of a single household', draws parallels between normative marital experience and the problems and opportunities faced by the single homemaker in controlling domestic space. Social and Symbolic Uses of the Homes of Single People', which examines the home as a social and symbolic arena. The book discusses the large-scale quantitative work undertaken elsewhere, it ensures that the fully digitised datasets that inform work are both comprehensive in coverage and, significantly, extend the chronological range of the research into the early nineteenth century.