Sordid Images : The Poetry of Masculine Desire

In this extraordinary and bold book, S.H. Clark explores and constructs a history of poetic misogyny. For the first time, a wide range of English poetry by men is examined for evidence of the articulation of heterosexual masculine desires. But Clark goes beyond a straightforward oppositional model of reading the male canon, to ask how we read this work 'after feminism', and whether it is possible to value these texts as misogynist texts in the light of feminist theory? Sordid Images is a challenging, controversial book. It will excite and unsettle its readers, and inspire many to look again at some of the cornerstone works of English literature.

In this extraordinary and bold book, S.H. Clark explores and constructs a history of poetic misogyny. For the first time, a wide range of English poetry by men is examined for evidence of the articulation of heterosexual masculine desires.
But Clark goes beyond a straightforward oppositional model of reading the male canon, to ask how we read this work 'after feminism', and whether it is possible to value these texts as misogynist texts in the light of feminist theory?
Sordid Images is a challenging, controversial book. It will excite and unsettle its readers, and inspire many to look again at some of the cornerstone works of English literature.

Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 Acknowledgements......Page 7 Note on texts......Page 8 INTRODUCTION......Page 10 'ALL THIS THE WORLD WELL KNOWS' Lust in Shakespeare's sonnets......Page 44 'SOMETHING GENROUS IN MEER LUST'? Rochester as libertine......Page 84 'LET BLOOD AND BODY BEAR THE FAULT' Pope's exorcism of desire......Page 117 BLAKE AND FEMALE REASON......Page 147 'TESTING THE RAZOR' T.S. Eliot's Poems 1920......Page 197 'GET OUT AS EARLY AS YOU CAN' Larkin's sexual politics......Page 229 Bibliography......Page 267 Index......Page 289 Examining a wide range of English poetry by men for evidence of the articulation of heterosexual masculine desire, Sordid Images will inspire its readers to look again at some of the cornerstone works of English literature.