Perverse Romanticism Sha, Richard C. Published by Johns Hopkins University Press Sha, Richard C. Perverse Romanticism: Aesthetics and Sexuality in Britain, 1750–1832. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009. Project MUSE. doi:10.1353/book.3494. https://muse.jhu.edu/. For additional information about this book https://muse.jhu.edu/book/3494 [ Access provided at 24 Sep 2021 14:10 GMT with no institutional affiliation ] This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Perverse Romanticism This page intentionally left blank Perverse Romanticism Aesthetics and Sexuality in Britain, 1750–1832 Richard C. Sha The Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore © 2009 The Johns Hopkins University Press All rights reserved. Published 2009 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 987654321 The Johns Hopkins University Press 2715 North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363 www.press.jhu.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sha, Richard C. Perverse romanticism : aesthetics and sexuality in Britain, 1750–1832 / Richard C. Sha. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8018-9041-3 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8018-9041-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. English literature—18th century—History and criticism. 2. English literature—19th century—History and criticism. 3. Romanticism—Great Britain. 4. Aesthetics in literature. 5. Sex in literature. I. Title. PR468.R65S53 2009 820.9Ј145—dc22 2008013123 A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Special discounts are available for bulk purchases of this book. For more information, please contact Special Sales at 410-516-6936 or [email protected]. The Johns Hopkins University Press uses environmentally friendly book materials, including recycled text paper that is composed of at least 30 percent post-consumer waste, whenever possible. All of our book papers are acid-free, and our jackets and covers are printed on paper with recycled content. For my parents, Richard T. and Marjorie Y. Sha, who wished for their son to go to medical school—this is as close as it gets! and Stuart Curran, who taught me about honorable toil This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1 Romantic Science and the Perversification of Sexual Pleasure 16 2 Historicizing Perversion: Perversity, Perversion, and the Rise of Function in the Biological Sciences 51 3 One Sex or Two? Nervous Bodies, Romantic Puberty, and the Natural Origins of Perverse Desires 78 4 The Perverse Aesthetics of Romanticism: Purposiveness with Purpose 141 5 Fiery Joys Perverted to Ten Commands: William Blake, the Perverse Turn, and Sexual Liberation 183 6 Byron, Epic Puberty, and Polymorphous Perversity 241 Notes 289 Works Cited 325 Index 347 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Hunt- ington Library, in particular the Giles and Elise Mead and Andrew Mellon Foundation, were crucial to the research herein. At American University, Dean Kay Mussell generously supported research trips to the Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine, British Museum, and the Univer- sity of Glasgow Library and Hunterian Anatomical Museum. American Uni- versity matched my NEH summer stipend and provided a sabbatical, making it possible for me to complete this book. Dean Kay Mussell provided a generous subvention for the costs of reproducing photographs in the book. Almost every page of this book is beholden to librarians and staffs at major libraries. At the Wellcome, Lesley Hall bestowed every kindness upon a re- searcher. At the National Library of Medicine, Stephen Greenberg unstintingly answered the research questions of someone untrained in the history of science and medicine. Michael North, curator of rare books, translated many Latin and Greek passages. Michael Sappol not only read many of the articles that became this book but also encouraged their author. He and Stephen invited me to pre- sent my work at the National Library of Medicine’s History of Medicine Sem- inar not once, but twice. I want to thank as well Anne Rothfeld and Elizabeth Fee. The music librarian got to supervise my reading of the British Library’s Pri- vate Case materials. Dan Lewis, curator in the history of science at the Hunting- ton Library, alerted me to recent acquisitions. Ginger Renner was a gracious hostess in Pasadena. At the Library of Congress, Daniel de Simone opened up to me and my classes Lessing Rosenwald’s Library and Blake books. Greg Jecmen did the same for the Blake prints and drawings at the National Gallery of Art, Washington. In one word: heaven. At the British Museum, Judy Rudoe arranged for me to hold Richard Payne Knight’s collection in my hands. Virginia Murray kindly combed the Murray Archives for materials relating to Byron’s doctor, Pearson. Jill Hollingsworth, extraordinary librarian, is even a better friend. x Acknowledgments For permissions to reprint manuscript material, I thank the Pierpont Morgan Library, the Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine, the National Library of Medicine, the Huntington Library, and the Rare Book Li- brary at the University of Glasgow. For permissions to use images from materials in their collections, I thank Alan Jutzi and the Huntington Library, the National Library of Medicine, Margaret Kieckhefer, Daniel de Simone and the Library of Congress, and John Windle. At the Johns Hopkins University Press, Michael Lonegro smoothly piloted the manuscript into print, despite a lengthy and com- plex vetting process. My copyeditor, Joe Parsons, saved me from many errors and infelicities. I am especially grateful to my readers (now, thankfully, no longer anonymous)—Frederick Burwick and Andrew Elfenbein—for helping to make this a stronger book. The book is markedly better for Andrew Elfenbein’s detailed and generous yet critical reading of it. My colleagues at American University have been a supportive bunch. Spe- cial thanks to David Culver, Deborah Payne Fisk, Madhavi Menon and her laughter, Chuck Larson, and Marianne Noble. It is with pleasure that I record particular debts to Jonathan Loesberg, Alan Richardson, Alan Bewell, Ray Stephanson, Mandy Berry, Bradford K. Mudge, Anne Wallace, Bob Essick, G. E. Bentley, Frederick Burwick, the late Betty T. Bennett, Helen Deutsch, Jim Mays, George Haggerty, George Rousseau, Brian Mains, Myra Sklarew, Mark Lussier, and Michael Philips. Jonathan Loesberg’s magisterial A Return to Aesthetics made this book easier to write; his careful readings of every chapter made this a stronger book. I have tried to leave the clunk and haze on the cutting-room floor. Alan Richardson has listened to many of this book’s ideas at the MLA; he guided me to essential sources and wrote letters of recommendation. Mandy Berry’s careful reading of my Byron chapter made it better. Unbidden, George Rousseau sent me an e-mail letting me know he liked one of my articles. I framed it and kept it on my desk to keep me going. Alan Bewell taught me what to read and how to read it; in the final stage, he pointed me to the fascinating work of Joan Roughgarden. Bob Essick and G. E. Bentley told me what to look for as I began to think about medicine and Blake. Fred Burwick let me know of his enthusiasm for the project: here’s to another breathless march around Grasmere Lake. Brad Mudge shared his working notes on the Private Case in the British Li- brary and improved the Blake chapter. Helen Deutsch invited me to share my work on Spallanzani at the Clark Library: I owe her some strawberry pie. Brian Acknowledgments xi Mains is an indispensable lunch companion. My late colleague, Betty Bennett, rewrote practically every sentence of my NEH fellowship application and made it successful. How I miss her wise counsel. Marilyn Gaull gave me permission to reprint parts of chapter 2 from an ar- ticle that appeared in The Wordsworth Circle. But her generosity and encourage- ment most sustained me during the rough patches. Thanks, too, for making it possible for me to speak at the Wordsworth Conference (where the “F word” is “Foucault”). Michael Philips showed me how to fake Blake; in a pinch it might pay some bills. David Krell answered my queries on Kant, and Andrew Cun- ningham and Joan Roughgarden also responded helpfully to my e-mails. Myra Sklarew shared her knowledge of neurology. Mark Lussier read the Blake chap- ter and strengthened it conceptually and stylistically. Whatever faults remain are mine alone. For eighteen months, Arlene Sha cheerfully came home to an unshaven and sometimes cranky writer in his undershirt. Percy Shelley put it best: what would this all mean, if thou kiss not me? I’ll stop strewing the books all over the house soon, I promise. And to my sons, Blake (aptly named) and Griffin (at this minute an aspiring writer), yes this book is finally done! Marie Berry, Arlene’s mom, flew in to pick up the slack when I went away for research. I thank her for allow- ing me to have a home to come home to. Hardest of all to specify are my debts to my parents and to Stuart Curran. My parents not only stepped in to pick up and take care of grandchildren but also cooked dinner on Tuesday nights. They so instilled in me the importance of ed- ucation that I have become a lifelong student. Stuart Curran guided an under- graduate besotted in Blake, minted countless letters of recommendation in the more than two decades since then, and generously encouraged me throughout. I only hope that he will find this book’s contents to be somewhat honorable. This page intentionally left blank Perverse Romanticism This page intentionally left blank Introduction Perverse Romanticism examines how sexuality and aesthetics—customarily treated as opposed concepts—were actually united in Romanticism by a common dis- trust of function.