The Semantics of Desire

Mehr zum Buch

The book explores the evolution of the protagonist's identity through the lens of desire and value in literature, tracing a lineage from Dickens and George Eliot to Hardy, Conrad, Lawrence, and Joyce. Philip Weinstein analyzes how characters transition from being defined by cultural and semantic constructs to embodying raw desire and natural impulses, highlighting the increasing sexualization of the imagined body in fiction.