A profane wit : the life of John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester / James William Johnson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Johnson, James William, 1927-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rochester, John Wilmot, Earl of, 1647-1680.

Rochester, John Wilmot.

Poets, English--Early modern, 1500-1700--Biography.

Poets, English.

Poets, English--Early modern--Biography.

History.

Great Britain--History--Restoration, 1660-1688--Biography.

Great Britain.

Great Britain--Court and courtiers--Biography.

Courts and courtiers.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

x, 467 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Rochester, NY : University of Rochester Press, 2004.

Summary:

Of the glittering, licentious court around King Charles II, John Wilmot the second Earl of Rochester was the most notorious. Simultaneously admired and vilified, he personified the rake-hell. Libertine, profane, promiscuous, he shocked his pious contemporaries with his doubts about religion and his blunt verses that dealt with sex or vicious satiric assaults on the high and mighty of the court. This account of Rochester and his times provides the facts behind his legendary reputation as a rake and his deathbed repentance. However, it also demonstrates that he was a loving if unfaithful husband, a devoted father, a loyal friend, a serious scholar, a social critic, and an aspiring patriot. An Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Rochester, James William Johnson is the author or editor of nine books and many articles treating British and American Literature.

Contents:

A Christian upbringing (1647-1655)

A classical education (1656-1659)

Growing debauched at Oxford (1660-1661)

The grand tour (1662-1664)

Campaigns and engagements (1665)

Pursuits and conquests (1666)

Man's estate (1667)

The king's pimp (1668-1669)

Love raised to extremes (1669-1670)

The quintessence of debauchery (1671)

Sallies in the country (1671-1672)

Sodom (1673)

New scenes of foppery (January-June 1674)

Dog days and masques (July-December 1674)

Reversals and recognitions (1675)

Livy and sickness (January-April 1676)

Flights and disguises (May-December 1676)

Sessions poetical and political (1677)

Scurvy alarums (1678)

Extremity : on all sides (1678-1679)

An end of communion (1679-1680)

Sapience angelical (May-July 1680).

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [359]-443) and indexes.

ISBN:

1580461700

OCLC:

56324595