Figuring Sex between Men from Shakespeare to Rochester [Paperback]

Paul Hammond (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 26, 2002

Paul Hammond explores the representation of sexual relations between men in English literature of the seventeenth century. He includes detailed readings of Shakespeare's Sonnets, and shows how his plays added homosexual elements to his source stories. He also analyses the satirical representation of homosexual kings such as James I and William III, and the homoerotic poetry of Marvell and Rochester.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A difficult project accomplished with considerable aplomb.... Deft handling of both the canonical texts and a wealth of unpublished manuscripts; must-have for any serious student of Shakespeare or Renaissance literature."--Virginia Quarterly Review

"This useful and learned study charts a trajectory from the homoeroticism and homosexual displays of Jacobean courtly society and its written lyrics of male-male passion to the greater textual 'closeting' of such expression at the close of the century.... This suggestive, provocative, and useful book introduces much new information , especially little-known manuscript texts and clarifying variants for better-known published works... Admirable and worthwhile."--The Scriblerian

"[Hammond] examines many texts, both famous works and obscure items (some from manuscript), elucidating in impressive...fashion the rhetorical resources of gay language.... The book's tour de force [is] a reading of the most celebrated poem of heterosexual love in the language, Andrew Marvell's 'To His Coy Mistress,' as a tissue of 'homosexual pre-texts'.... Hammond's informed and informative volume abounds in new ideas and new readings; students and scholars in Renaissance literature neglect it at their peril. Highly recommended."--Choice

About the Author

Paul Hammond is a Professor of Seventeenth-Century English Literature, University of Leeds.

Product Details

• Paperback: 294 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (September 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198186932
• ISBN-13: 978-0198186939
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,765,721 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Startling academic study, January 31, 2003

By 

Charlus "charlus" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Figuring Sex between Men from Shakespeare to Rochester (Paperback)

This smart, amazingly well-researched and groundbreaking study on the literature of sodomy and male love in the 17th Century is written in jargon-free language and is utterly convincing. That's probably because Mr. Hammond doesn't try to overinterpret the evidence he has available (and it is quite alot) but leaves room for doubt and variable readings. This restraint (so rare in gay studies...believe me, I know) makes his book stand out in the field, that and the fact that he has unearthed a treasure trove of literature either unknown or known only to a few specialists. His facts are fascinating, his style engaging. Future research in the history of sexual writing will have to take his work into consideration. Bravo, Mr. Hammond!

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impressive, July 22, 2008

By 

Raul Gomez Reviriego (Caceres, Spain) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Figuring Sex between Men from Shakespeare to Rochester (Paperback)

I received it very fast, taking into account that I'm in Spain.

I got surprised, and the book is amazing.

Thanks a bunch!