The replication and critique of libertinism in Andrew Marvell's 'To His Coy Mistress'

Marvell's 'To His Coy Mistress' both iterates and interrogates the discourse of sexual libertinism. His poem presents a double picture of libertine verse and the version of Epicurean philosophy informing it. That picture problematically sets topoi from the literature of sexual liberti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Renaissance studies 2014-06, Vol.28 (3), p.392-404
Main Author: Cousins, A. D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Allusion
Andrew Marvell
Epicureanism
Libertine lifestyle
libertinism
Literary criticism
Love poetry
Lyric poetry
Orthodox Church
Orthodoxy
Pleasure
Poetry
Reasoning
seventeenth-century poetry
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Summary:Marvell's 'To His Coy Mistress' both iterates and interrogates the discourse of sexual libertinism. His poem presents a double picture of libertine verse and the version of Epicurean philosophy informing it. That picture problematically sets topoi from the literature of sexual libertinism against Christian orthodoxy, refusing to portray their opposition in terms of unqualified polarities. At the last, Marvell leaves his readers to choose between rival visions of the world.
ISSN:0269-1213
1477-4658
DOI:10.1111/rest.12032