DANGEROUS WOMEN LIBERTINE EPICURES AND THE RISE OF SENSIBILITY 1670¿1730

Linker, Laura

ISBN 10: 1138270806 / ISBN 13: 9781138270800

Published by Taylor & Francis, 2016

About this Item

184 pages. 9.21x6.14x0.51 inches. In Stock.

Seller Inventory # zk1138270806

Bibliographic Details

• Title: DANGEROUS WOMEN LIBERTINE EPICURES AND THE RISE OF SENSIBILITY 1670¿1730
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Publication Date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1138270806
• ISBN 13: 9781138270800
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Brand New
• Weight: 0.45 kilograms

About this title

Synopsis

In the first full-length study of the figure of the female libertine in late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century literature, Laura Linker examines heroines appearing in literature by John Dryden, Aphra Behn, Catharine Trotter, Delariviere Manley, and Daniel Defoe. Linker argues that this figure, partially inspired by Epicurean ideas found in Lucretius's De rerum natura, interrogates gender roles and assumptions and emerges as a source of considerable tension during the late Stuart and early Georgian periods. Witty and rebellious, the female libertine becomes a frequent satiric target because of her transgressive sexuality. As a result of negative portrayals of lady libertines, women writers begin to associate their libertine heroines with the pathos figures they read in French texts of sensibilité. Beginning with a discussion of Charles II's mistresses, Linker shows that these women continue to serve as models for the female libertine in literature long after their "reigns" at court ended. Her study places the female libertine within her cultural, philosophical, and literary contexts and suggests new ways of considering women's participation and the early novel, which prominently features female libertines as heroines of sensibility.

About the Author

Laura Linker is a lecturer in the Department of English at North Carolina State University, USA, and teaches courses on libertinism at Duke University.