Libertine London : Sex in the eighteenth-century metropolis / Julie Peakman.

Libertine London : Sex in the eighteenth-century metropolis / Julie Peakman.

9781789148916
178914891X
1789148472
9781789148473

London : Reaktion Books, Limited, 2024.

©2024

English

1 online resource (361 pages) : illustrations

HQ186.L66 P43 2024

306.709421209033

An eye-opening and richly detailed history of women's sexuality that upends entrenched perceptions of the long eighteenth century. Libertine London investigates the sex lives of women throughout the period 1680 to 1830, known as the long eighteenth century. The book uncovers the various experiences of women, whether as mistresses, adultresses, or as participants in the sex trade. From renowned courtesans to downtrodden streetwalkers, it examines the multifaceted lives of these women within brothels, on stage, and even behind bars. Based on new research in court transcripts, asylum records, magazines, pamphlets, satires, songs, theater plays, and erotica, Libertine London reveals the gruesome treatment of women who were sexually active outside of marriage. Julie Peakman looks at sex from women's points of view, undercutting the traditional image of the bawdy eighteenth century to expose a more sordid side, which often left women distressed, ostracized, and vilified for their sexual behavior.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 339-346) and index.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI Available via World Wide Web.

Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on May 10, 2024).

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