Ovidian myth and sexual deviance in early modern English literature

About this book

" ... explores early modern culture's reception of Ovid through the manipulation of Ovidian myth by creative writers such as Shakespeare, Middleton, Heywood, Marlowe, Lyly and Marston. Sarah Carter analyses the strong cultural presence of particular myths and mythic characters involving potentially ideologically deviant sexual behaviour, including sexual violence, homosexuality, hermaphroditism and incest, in the myths of Philomela, Lucrece, Ganymede, Hermaphroditus, Pygmalion, Myrrha and Adonis. Cross-genre and cross-author analysis is combined with sexuality and gender theory to claim that classical mythology facilitates full engagement for early modern thinkers with both depictions of sexual behaviour and discourse on deviant sexualities. It is also argued that this negotiation of sexual deviance is potentially radical in allowing depictions and discussions of non-conformist sexual behaviour in popular culture, and that this subversive potential is ultimately deflated through representation which is ideologically conservative"--Publisher's description, p. [4] of cover.