Adultery in the Novel - Contract and Transgression

Originally published in 1979. Adultery is a dominant feature in chivalric literature; it becomes a major concern in Shakespeare's last plays; and it forms the central plot of novels from Anna Karenina to Couples. Tony Tanner proposes that transgressions of the marriage contract take on a special significance in the "bourgeois novels" of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. His interpretation begins with the general topic of adultery in literature and then zeroes in on three works--Rousseau's La Nouvelle Héloïse, Goethe's Die Wahlverwandtschaften, and Flaubert's Madame Bovary. His interpretation encompasses the role of women, the structure of the family, social mores, and the history of sexuality.

About the author

Tony Tanner was a fellow of King's College, Cambridge. He published books on Joseph Conrad and Saul Bellow and on American literature.

Summary

His interpretation encompasses the role of women, the structure of the family, social mores, and the history of sexuality.

Product details

• Authors: Tony Tanner, Tony (King's College) Tanner, Tony (King''s College) Tanner, Tanner Tony
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.11.2019
• EAN: 9781421434414
• ISBN: 978-1-4214-3441-4
• No. of pages: 396
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 18th Century, Literature: history & criticism, Literary studies: c 1600 to c 1800, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Human Sexuality, Sex, sexuality, relationships & society: general