The Manly Art Summary

The rise of popularity in Bare-knuckle prize fighting mirrored the complications, contradictions, and swift changes in society of 19th century United States, as Elliot Gorn interprets in his monograph The Manly Art: Bare-Knuckle Prize Fighting in America. Despite the fact that prize fighting was never actually legalized, its popularity continued to grow from its introduction to America- as a result of Irish immigrants- and resulted in being one of the most popular sports throughout the nineteenth century, especially among working class males. Bare-knuckle prize fighting was not just a simple battle between two men, the fighting symbolized honor, class, and prowess. Although prize fighting tended to glorify violence in society, its cultural and social significance can not go unnoticed. Early on, Gorn makes his thesis clear to the reader, that the ring was a focus for cultural conflict, essentially it was a distilled and down-sized version of America that displayed the ingrained culture of a man’s honor and the inherent inconsistency and contradiction of the Victorian perception. Gorn is forthright as he demonstrates that throughout the book he will be interpreting prize fighting, rather than simply describing it. He organizes the monograph chronologically, as he writes of the migrations that …show more content…
The Manly Art has a clear thesis with an overwhelming supply of evidence that includes news reports and first-hand witness accounts of matches. The monograph likely is not a recreational read for anyone other than researchers, however, Gorn keeps readers captivated with his in-depth recaps of matches. The Manly Art is a beneficial addition to the History of Sports in America course as a result of Gorn’s real life analysis of sport and its definition of a social