Looking at the subtle and often bizarre codes of manners that ruled all aspects of Victorian life, Andrew St. George demonstrates how far "manners" permeated the Victorian mentality, from the way they talked, dressed, furnished their houses, and courted their wives to the way they saw the world, judged their achievements, and expressed their inner feelings through literature. He draws links between etiquette books and sermons, and considers the new "democratic" manners of America, financial speculation and scandal, Darwinian science, and decadent verse.