Performing Libertinism in Charles II's Court: Politics, Drama, Sexuality examines the performative nature of Restoration libertinism by reading reports of libertine activities and texts of libertine plays within the context of the fraternization between George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, Sir Charles Sedley, Sir George Etherege, and William Wycherley. Webster argues that libertines, both real and imagined, performed traditionally secretive acts, including excessive drinking, sex, sedition, and sacrilege, in the public sphere. This eruption of the private into the public challenged a Stuart ideology that distinguished between the nation's public life and the king's and his subjects' private consciences. Although this eruption was contained by the early 1680s, the libertine performances this book analyzes nevertheless played an important part in the history of English radicalism.
Author(s): Jeremy Webster
Edition: First Edition
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2005
Language: English
Pages: 264
Tags: British and Irish Literature; Nineteenth-Century Literature; History of Britain and Ireland; Fiction; European History; History of Early Modern Europe
Front Matter....Pages i-ix
Performing Libertinism: An Introduction....Pages 1-36
Producing Libertine Politics: The Rehearsal....Pages 37-64
Staging Libertine Conduct: Love in a Wood, The Gentleman Dancing-Master, and The Country Wife....Pages 65-100
Scripting Libertine Tricksters: The Man of Mode and The Plain Dealer....Pages 101-137
Enacting Libertine Isolation: Antony and Cleopatra and The Tragedy of Valentinian....Pages 139-170
Censuring Libertine Sexuality: Sodom....Pages 171-195
Conclusion....Pages 197-207
Back Matter....Pages 209-251
