Sodomites in the pillory in eighteenth-century London

The arrival of the eighteenth century brought with it new legal attention to sodomitical behaviour. Nowhere was this more notorious and public than in the punishment of those offences in the pillory. This paper argues that the pillory was a productive space for the understanding of sodomy in this...

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Main Author: Bartlett, Peter
Format: Article
Published: Sage 1997
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1668/
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author Bartlett, Peter
author_facet Bartlett, Peter
author_sort Bartlett, Peter
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description The arrival of the eighteenth century brought with it new legal attention to sodomitical behaviour. Nowhere was this more notorious and public than in the punishment of those offences in the pillory. This paper argues that the pillory was a productive space for the understanding of sodomy in this period, a place where the logic and practice of that particular punishment intersected with a new and emerging conceptualization of masculinity and erotic desire between men. The intersection between these discourses had a dynamic function: far from merely reflecting public attitudes prevalent elsewhere, the practices of the pillory helped to create the new attitudinal structure to sodomitical behaviour.
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spelling nottingham-16682020-05-04T20:33:24Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1668/ Sodomites in the pillory in eighteenth-century London Bartlett, Peter The arrival of the eighteenth century brought with it new legal attention to sodomitical behaviour. Nowhere was this more notorious and public than in the punishment of those offences in the pillory. This paper argues that the pillory was a productive space for the understanding of sodomy in this period, a place where the logic and practice of that particular punishment intersected with a new and emerging conceptualization of masculinity and erotic desire between men. The intersection between these discourses had a dynamic function: far from merely reflecting public attitudes prevalent elsewhere, the practices of the pillory helped to create the new attitudinal structure to sodomitical behaviour. Sage 1997 Article PeerReviewed Bartlett, Peter (1997) Sodomites in the pillory in eighteenth-century London. Social and Legal Studies, 6 (4). pp. 553-572. ISSN 0964-6639 pillory sodomy attempted sodomy eighteenth-century criminal law http://sls.sagepub.com/content/6/4/553.full doi:10.1177/096466399700600406 doi:10.1177/096466399700600406
spellingShingle pillory sodomy attempted sodomy eighteenth-century criminal law
Bartlett, Peter
Sodomites in the pillory in eighteenth-century London
title Sodomites in the pillory in eighteenth-century London
title_full Sodomites in the pillory in eighteenth-century London
title_fullStr Sodomites in the pillory in eighteenth-century London
title_full_unstemmed Sodomites in the pillory in eighteenth-century London
title_short Sodomites in the pillory in eighteenth-century London
title_sort sodomites in the pillory in eighteenth-century london
topic pillory sodomy attempted sodomy eighteenth-century criminal law
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1668/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1668/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/1668/