Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


osu1176388462.pdf (869.88 KB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

The familiar companion of courtizans: prostitution, disease and disorder in early modern London

Sassone, Jaimie H.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1176388462

Abstract Details

2005, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, History.
This thesis uses legal, medical and literary sources to explore the relationship between prostitution and venereal disease in early modern London. I argue that while the actual practice of prostitution probably changed very little between the later medieval and the early modem period, attitudes toward prostitutes did undergo a significant change. In the Middle Ages prostitutes were reviled for their lust and venery, but representations of whores were not monolithically negative. In the early modern period, prostitutes were condemned as the archetype of the disorderly women, lustful and venal to be sure, but also loud, vulgar, infertile and diseased. By the end of the seventeenth century, representations of prostitutes became even more negative, eventually depicting them as deceptive and aggressive predators who not only sought to seduce their clients but to destroy them. I suggest that it is likely that the representation of prostitute as predator is a result of the close association between prostitutes and venereal disease. In the Middle Ages, meddling with a harlot might bring a man disgrace, but in the early modern period it could bring pain, humiliation, poverty and death.
David Cressy (Advisor)
89 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Sassone, J. H. (2005). The familiar companion of courtizans: prostitution, disease and disorder in early modern London [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1176388462

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Sassone, Jaimie. The familiar companion of courtizans: prostitution, disease and disorder in early modern London. 2005. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1176388462.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Sassone, Jaimie. "The familiar companion of courtizans: prostitution, disease and disorder in early modern London." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2005. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1176388462

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1176388462
692
© 2005, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.