image id: ps_cps_cd5_064
Thomas Jonathan Wooler (1786?–1853), supposed author
The Kettle Abusing the Pot. A Satirical Poem. By The Black Dwarf
London: Printed for J. Johnson, [1820]
NYPL, The Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle
Women's adultery was judged by completely different rules than those that
applied to men, and even radicals found it difficult not to blame Queen Caroline,
in 1820 the despised and abandoned wife of the new king, George IV. Even an
abandoned wife's taking a lover was considered an offense, and her "guilt" was
flagrant. No shrinking violet, she demanded a great deal of attention at a
time when flamboyant public display was less and less countenanced, especially
for women. Public opinion for and against Caroline split on Whig and Tory political
lines, with a few independents, like Wooler, seeing sins on both sides.
