Abstract

The anonymous author of A Spy on Mother Midnight (1748) applies libertine philosophy to commonplace elements of eighteenth-century amatory and erotic fiction, producing a story that offers omnisexual thrills and unmistakable homoerotic interest. This manipulation suggests that the boundaries of pornographic appeal in the period may have been more flexible than scholars have generally believed. At a time when public discourse on “sodomites” and “mollies” was almost uniformly negative, Mother Midnight's libertinism creates homoerotic allure without the intratextual or actual punishment expected in connection with both pornography and homosexuality. Though the tale embraces the amorality of the aristocratic libertines, it blurs social boundaries as well as gender boundaries, using class voyeurism to enable sexual voyeurism. With a letter from a man to his male friend as its framing device, Mother Midnight dwells on the erotic appeal and sexual usefulness of cross-dressing while allowing its readers, standing in for the letter’s recipient, to partake of the transgressive adventures from a safe distance. Because its homoerotic content stays just under the radar, A Spy on Mother Midnight need not excuse itself with homophobic language. As the protagonist disguises himself to gain entrance to a lying-in, A Spy on Mother Midnight disguises its homoerotic sympathies, hiding them, so to speak, in plain sight for interested readers to discover.

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