The Poisoned Embrace: A Brief History of Sexual Pessimism

by Lawrence Osborne

The Poisoned Embrace is a provocative investigation into the history of sexual pessimism as it has evolved in Western theology throughout the ages.
 
Since the days of the Early Fathers, sex and death have formed a theological equation known as sexual pessimism. This aversion to the carnal, and its consequent elevation of the virginal and the chaste, springs not from Christianity, but from Gnosticism.
 
Osborne examines the art, mythologies, and traditions of Christendom, and distinguishes thematic the Virgin, the Witch, the Leper, the Noble Savage, the Jew, the Oriental, the Androgyne, and Don Juan. He traces our now-glorified ideal of sexual passion back to the Troubadours and Northern Mystics, and explores how the Passion of the Cross relates the ideas of sublime passion and therapeutic energy.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

260 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Lawrence Osborne is the author of seven critically acclaimed novels, including The Forgiven (now a major motion picture starring Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain), and Only to Sleep: A Philip Marlowe Novel, a New York Times Notable Book and nominated for an Edgar Award, as well as six books of nonfiction, including Bangkok Days. He has led a nomadic life, living in Paris, New York, Mexico, and Istanbul, and he currently resides in Bangkok.

Reviews

[Michelle Waters]

Found this on the free book shelf in my building's laundry room

[Zachary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really what I was expecting. I was hoping for a short history of anti-sex philosophy (chastity, celibacy, anti-natalism, etc.) and what I got was more of a "Whitmans Sampler" of sexual renunciation via various cultural archetypes (virgin, witch, hermaphrodite, etc.). Not bad, just not what I was hoping for. The definitive Anti-Sex book has yet to be written!