Enlightened Virginity in Eighteenth-Century Literature [Paperback]

Enlightened Virginity in Eighteenth-Century Literature analyzes the history of the English virgin at the height of her celebrity. In so doing, it presents new arguments about the early English novel and its relationship to science, religion, and feminist theory.Introduction: Virginity and Patrilinear Legitimacy Blessed Virgins: Anti-Catholic Propaganda and Convent Fantasies The Hymen and Its Discontents: Medical Discourses on Virginity Hymen Humor: Ballads and the Matter of Virginity Virgin Idols and Verbal Devices: Pope's Belinda and the Virgin Mary Faking It: Virtue, Satire, and Pamela's Virginity Novel Virgins: Libertine and Literary Pleasures in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure Conclusion: Clarissa's Exceptional InfertilityCORINNE HAROL is an Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta, Department of English and Film Studies, USA. She was born in Boston, holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, and now resides in both Edmonton, Alberta, and Santa Monica, California, USA.