Sex, Seduction and Sedition in Restoration Literature (UG)

Students taking this course will explore the ways in which Restoration literature depicts sex, desire and love. They will analyse relationships between literary texts and the political, theological and philosophical debates taking place about sexuality in Restoration culture. As well as reading a range of different types of literary text (from religious epic to sexually explicit libertine poetry; poetic encomiums on the sanctity of marriage to sensationalist narratives about debauchery and prostitution), students will also examine and assess the place of sexual imagery in contemporary philosophical and theological arguments about the nature of truth, morality, politics and the state. The aim will be to develop an understanding of the ways in which Restoration literary texts present, endorse, question or challenge the ideas and practices of the culture in which they were produced. Credit Level: 10 Year taken: Year 4 Undergraduate