Amatory fiction is a genre of British literature that became popular during the late 17th century and early 18th century, approximately 1660–1730.[1] It was often spread throughout coteries, published while trying to remain true to the writer's vision without criticism. Amatory fiction predates, and in some ways predicts, the invention of the novel and is an early predecessor of the romance novel. Indeed, many themes of the contemporary romance novel were first explored in amatory fiction. The writing of amatory fiction work was dominated by women, and it was considered to have mainly female readers; but it is assumed that men read these novels as well. As its name implies, amatory fiction is preoccupied with sexual love and romance. Most of its works were short stories.
The three most prominent amatory fiction writers were: Eliza Haywood (who wrote Love in Excess; Or, The Fatal Enquiry and Fantomina: Or, Love in a Maze, as well as over 70 other published works); Delarivier Manley, (author of The Lost Lover and Almyna: or, The Arabian Vow. A Tragedy) and Aphra Behn (who wrote The History of the Nun and "To the Fair Clarinda, Who Made Love to Me, Imagined More than Woman",[2] and one of her most popular works "The Disappointment", which is a tale about a sexual encounter, written from a females point of view, could possibly be about male impotence). Together, these writers were known as "the fair triumvirate of wit", a phrase coined by Rev. James Sterling,[3] though their reputation for scandalous writing caused some to call them the "naughty triumvirate."[4]
^Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"To the Fair Clarinda, Who Made Love to Me, Imagined More Than Woman - a poem by Aphra Behn". www.poetry-archive.com. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
^Anderson, Paul Bunyan (1936). "Mistress Delariviere Manley's Biography". Modern Philology. 33 (3). The University of Chicago Press: 261–278. doi:10.1086/388202. JSTOR 434067.
^Toni O'Shaughnessy Bowers, "Sex, Lies, and Invisibility: Amatory Fiction from the Restoration to Mid-Century," The Columbia History of the British Novel, Ed. John Richetti, Columbia UP, 1994, 51.
Amatoryfiction is a genre of British literature that became popular during the late 17th century and early 18th century, approximately 1660–1730. It...
of wit" and major writers of amatoryfiction. Haywood's prolific works moved from titillating romance novels to the amatory during the early 1720s to works...
Breaker, is a novella by Aphra Behn published in 1689. It is a piece of amatoryfiction. Some of the story's main themes include woman's desire, guilt, and...
may interact with each individual persona. Part of the tradition of amatoryfiction is to rewrite the story of the persecuted maiden into a story of feminine...
literature#1800s Neoclassicism English literature Augustan literature Amatoryfiction German literature German Romanticism Sturm und Drang 18th century in...
ISBN 978-0-226-01461-6. Allen, Peter Lewis (1992). The Art of Love: amatoryfiction from Ovid to the Romance of the Rose. University of Pennsylvania Press...
infatuation, and impassioned acts of love, common ideas within the amatoryfiction genre. Behn herself introduces the story as a study of the destructive...
"Neoclassical poetics". Backscheider, Paula R.; Richetti, John J. (1996). Popular Fiction by Women, 1660–1730: An Anthology. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-871136-0...
Amatory anatomy, sometimes referred to simply as "anatomy," is a historical type of English poetry whereby the author describes his or her appreciation...
reading in the romance genre. In a nod to eighteenth century British amatoryfiction, 'Welcome to Temptation explores the boundaries between public and...
and Erotic Display: Jennifer Crusie's Links to Eighteenth-Century AmatoryFiction", Journal of Popular Romance Studies, 2 (2) "Bet Me". Publishers Weekly...
these writers thereby increased their sales. In particular, early amatoryfiction and its representation of class and gender was driven by the writers'...
seems to be conducting a campaign against the libertinism found in amatoryfiction. In the preface, Rowe states her didactic intent, "The Drift of these...
The Amatory Experiences of a Surgeon is a pornographic novel by James Campbell Reddie under the pseudonym of "James Campbell" published in London (although...
mixture of realism, naturalistic dialogue, and the French style of amatoryfiction, which had never been used to such an extent in English novels. Manley...
comedian hosts likened his haircut to the nuclear accident. Russian band Amatory dedicated a song titled "Cherno" (Russian: "Черно)" from the album DOOM...
Books as Beauty in the Birch. – An exchange of racy letters about the amatory and disciplinary experiences of a new master of an English school for wayward...
Some of his journal entries and letters from this period describe his amatory exploits. Thus, in 1767, in a letter to William Johnson Temple, he wrote...
concern the dealings of the clergy and the gentry, and the political, amatory, and social manoeuvrings among them. A series was not planned when Trollope...
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