As the sources I scour about sexuality increase, so does my understanding of the broad problems surrounding the history of sex. However, as my increased understanding, or rather, exponentially growing interest and grasps at the general ideas, grows, more questions seem to arise, the answers to them become seemingly more and more out of reach. […]
The issues of sexual sin within colonial culture are examined in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Documents 1. and 3. of Chapter 3 in Major Problems in the History of American Sexuality, and in Richard Godbeer’s essay Sodomy in Colonial New England. What stands out in the study of said documents is the focus on […]
“I regard it as an impious and detestable maxim that in matters of government the majority of a people has the right to do everything, and nevertheless I place the origin of all powers in the will of the majority.” – Alexis De Tocqueville An apparition of Tocqueville appeared in front of me last Thursday, […]
Identity and Sexuality in the Anglo-American Colonies In this week’s Peiss readings we get some concrete facts and history to support what Foucault had mentioned in The History of Sexuality – the fact that sexual abnormality was often tolerated by villagers/townspeople during the Puritan era, even though legal codes created by the religious and political […]
Consent and Cautionary Tales Puritan colonial discourse liberally interchanges sodomy, unclean lusty acts, and rape. The concept of consent in sexual interaction appears vague and not at all relevant except in the final clause of Massachusetts Colony’s Laws on Sexual Offenses, where the offender may possibly punished with death for “ravishing” a woman by force. […]
Be Firm, O’ Letter A I have loved Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter for as long as I can remember – until now. I forgot that when I read it, I always skip the integral – but long-winded and dull – introduction. But read it I did for this class, and I found I was […]
All You Need is Love: The Scarlet Letter, part 1 I love that Nathaniel Hawthorne has written a psychological novel with The Scarlet Letter – in my opinion, his descriptions of Dimmesdale compose an acute portrait of human suffering and guilt. Hester Prynne is worth countless critical essays, but in light of this weeks readings […]
Who Is Persecuted or Prosecuted for Deviance from Sexual Norms? In reading the documents on the role of sex and sexual structures in colonial New England, and the first part of Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, what seems most striking is the role that accusations of sexual deviance and the persecution or prosecution of such played […]
