Literary Desire

Did you know that literary traditions have grappled with the question of desire for centuries?
Or that understanding how desire is shaped by culture allows us to critically assess the values and assumptions embedded within literary texts?

The book examines the construction of desire within specific cultural contexts, the ethical implications of pursuing or suppressing desire, and the relationship between desire and narrative structure. It progresses from establishing a theoretical framework in the introduction to exploring specific manifestations of desire in different literary traditions, such as classical Greek tragedy and modern novels. Each chapter focuses on close readings of selected texts, analyzing how desire functions within the narrative and what it reveals about the characters and their world, supported by literary theory, historical context, and philosophical insights.

The conclusion explores the practical implications of this study, such as understanding the power of motivations behind certain desires.