The Libertine Reader: Eroticism and Enlightenment in Eighteenth-Century France

Book Overview

Irresistibly charming or shamelessly deceitful, remarkably persuasive or uselessly verbose, everything one loves to hate -- or hates to love -- about "French lovers" and their self-styled reputation can be traced to eighteenth-century libertine novels. Obsessed with strategies of seduction, endlessly speculating about the motives and goals of lovers, the idle aristocrats who populate these novels are exclusively preoccupied with their erotic lives. Deprived of other battlefields in which to fulfill their thirst for glory, libertine noblemen seek to conquer the women of their class without falling into the trap of love, while their female prey attempt to enjoy the pleasures of love without sacrificing their honor. Yet, in spite of the licentious mores of the declining Old Regime, men and women are still expected to pay lip service to an austere code of morals. Asked to constantly denounce their own practices, they find that their erotic war games are thus governed by a double constraint: whatever they feel or intend, the heroes of libertine literature can neither say what they mean nor mean what they say.

The Libertine Reader includes all the varieties of libertine strategies: from the successful cunning of Mme de T- in Denon's No Tomorrow to the ill-fated genius of Mme Merteuil in Laclos's Dangerous Liaisons; from the laborious sentimental education of Meilcour in Cr billon fils's Wayward Head and Heart to the hazardous master plan of the French ambassador in Pr vost's The Story of a Modern Greek Woman. The discrepancies between the characters' words and their true intentions -- the libertine double entendre -- are exposed through the speaking vaginas in Diderot's Indiscreet Jewels and the wandering soul of Amanzei in Cr billon fils's Sofa, while the contrasts between natural and civilized -- or degenerate -- erotics are the subjects of both Diderot's Supplement to Bougainville's Voyage and Laclos's On the Education of Women. Finally, Sade's Florville and Courval shows that destiny itself is on the side of libertinism.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0942299418
• ISBN13: 9780942299410
• Release Date: September 1997
• Publisher: Zone Books
• Length: 1328 Pages
• Weight: 1.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 5.5" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

A beautiful glimpse into the boudoir!

Never before has such an impressive selection of 18th century French libertine literature been assembled in English translation. The reader surveys the entire genre of this "philosophical," sometimes very erotic literature (from Denis Diderot and Crebillon fils to the divine Marquis de Sade). To my knowledge, at least two of the pieces have never been translated: Choderlos de Laclos' "On the Education of Women" and Vivant Denon's "No Tomorrow." Denon's piece is a particular treat and is perhaps the crown jewel of the collection. Of course, substantive essays by noted dix-huitiemistes are also included before each piece. For those who love the 18th century or merely are afficiandos of erotic literature, "The Libertine Reader" should definitely be on your bookshelves.