Infamous commerce : prostitution in eighteenth-century British literature and culture / Laura J. Rosenthal.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rosenthal, Laura J. (Laura Jean), 1960- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English literature--18th century--History and criticism.

English literature.

Prostitutes in literature.

Prostitution--Great Britain--History--18th century.

Prostitution.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (283 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, [New York] ; London, [England] : Cornell University Press, 2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In Infamous Commerce, Laura J. Rosenthal uses literary and historical sources to explore the meaning of prostitution from the Restoration through the eighteenth century, showing how both reformers and libertines constructed the modern meaning of sex work during this period. From Grub Street's lurid "whore biographies" to the period's most acclaimed novels, the prostitute was depicted as facing a choice between abject poverty and some form of sex work.Prostitution, in Rosenthal's view, confronted the core controversies of eighteenth-century capitalism: luxury, desire, global trade, commodification, social mobility, gender identity, imperialism, self-ownership, alienation, and even the nature of work itself. In the context of extensive research into printed accounts of both male and female prostitution-among them sermons, popular prostitute biographies, satire, pornography, brothel guides, reformist writing, and travel narratives-Rosenthal offers in-depth readings of Samuel Richardson's Clarissa and Pamela and the responses to the latter novel (including Eliza Haywood's Anti-Pamela), Bernard Mandeville's defenses of prostitution, Daniel Defoe's Roxana, Henry Fielding's Tom Jones, and travel journals about the voyages of Captain Cook to the South Seas. Throughout, Rosenthal considers representations of the prostitute's own sexuality (desire, revulsion, etc.) to be key parts of the changing meaning of "the oldest profession."

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. A "Cool State of Indifference": Mother Creswell's Academy

2. The "Deluge of Depravity": Bernard Mandeville and the Reform Societies

3. Whore, Turk, and Jew: Defoe's Roxana

4. Fanny's Sisters: The Prostitute Narrative

5. Clarissa among the Whores

6. Tom Jones and the "New Vice"

7. Risky Business in the South Seas and Back

Conclusion: Usury of the Heart

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-8014-5435-2

OCLC:

905691272