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The literary virgin is eighteenth-century England's most enduring and unlikely celebrity. Despite her ignominious association with Catholicism and her incorrigibility with respect to the methods of the new science, the virgin emerges, by the middle of the eighteenth century, as the triumphant heroine of sentimental fiction as well as a muse for both satire and pornography. This book explores how and why the virgin turns out to be such a highly contested character at the center of many enlightenment debates. By focusing on the figure and fate of the virgin, the book offers new arguments about the relationship of novelist epistemologies to other modes of knowing, about the significance of virginity to patriarchy, and about the feminization of the novel.
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Enlightened Virginity in Eighteenth-Century Literature
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Enlightened Virginity in Eighteenth-Century Literature Corrinne Harol
ENLIGHTENED VIRGINITY IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY LITERATURE
© Corrinne Harol, 2006. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2006 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™ 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN-13: 978–1–4039–7494–5 ISBN-10: 1–4039–7494–2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Harol, Corrinne. Enlightened virginity in eighteenth-century literature / Corrinne Harol. p. cm. Originally published as the author’s thesis (doctoral-Univ. of Calif., Los Angeles) under the title: Novel virgins. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1–4039–7494–2 (alk. paper) 1. English literature—18th century—History and criticism. 2. Virginity in literature. I. Title. PR448.V55H37 2006 820.9353—dc22
2005057926
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: September 2006 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America.
Content s
Acknowledgments
vii
Introduction: Virginity and Patrilinear Legitimacy
1
1 Blessed Virgins: Anti-Catholic Propaganda and Convent Fantasies
17
2 The Hymen and Its Discontents: Medical Discourses on Virginity
59
3 Hymen Humor: Ballads and the Matter of Virginity
85
4 Virgin Idols and Verbal Devices: Pope’s Belinda and the Virgin Mary
111
5 Faking It: Virtue, Satire, and Pamela’s Virginity
131
6 Novel Virgins: Libertine and Literary Pleasures in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure
147
Conclusion: Clarissa’s Exceptional Infertility
167
Notes
179
Works Cited
201
Index
223
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Ac knowled gment s
This project would not have been possible without significant financial support from The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of Utah, the Jean and Irving Stone Foundation, the Huntington Library, and most especially from the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, which, besides money, provided me a room of my own at crucial times, with untold conferences and congenial repasts, and with a library staff so helpful and supportive that I came to think o