Fascinating! I was reminded of Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders, from the early 18th century. The novel, as with all of Defoe's, purports to be a "true history" of its subject. And of course, the main attraction to the contemporary reader would have been the promise of accounts of sexual dalliance in the pages.
Yes indeed. The novel was emerging at the same time, and drew on these scandalous pamphlets of sexual celebrities and also felons, who were often the subject of "true lives" distributed to crowds at the gallows.
Thanks, very interesting, there’s always that Saint/Sinner complex!
Fascinating! I was reminded of Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders, from the early 18th century. The novel, as with all of Defoe's, purports to be a "true history" of its subject. And of course, the main attraction to the contemporary reader would have been the promise of accounts of sexual dalliance in the pages.
Yes indeed. The novel was emerging at the same time, and drew on these scandalous pamphlets of sexual celebrities and also felons, who were often the subject of "true lives" distributed to crowds at the gallows.