Visions of Sodom
Religion, Homoerotic Desire, and the End of the World in England, c. 1550–1850
H.G. Cocks
- The
- book
- of
- Genesis
- records
- the
- fiery
- fate
- of
- Sodom
- and
- Gomorrah—a
- storm
- of
- fire
- and
- brimstone
- was
- sent
- from
- heaven
- and,
- for
- the
- wickedness
- of
- the
- people,
- God
- destroyed
- the
- cities
- “and
- all
- the
- plains,
- and
- all
- the
- inhabitants
- of
- the
- cities,
- and
- that
- which
- grew
- upon
- the
- ground.”
- According
- to
- many
- Protestant
- theologians
- and
- commentators,
- one
- of
- the
- Sodomites’
- many
- crimes
- was
- homoerotic
- excess.In
- Visions
- of
- Sodom,
- H.
- G.
- Cocks
- examines
- the
- many
- different
- ways
- in
- which
- the
- story
- of
- Sodom’s
- destruction
- provided
- a
- template
- for
- understanding
- homoerotic
- desire
- and
- behaviour
- in
- Britain
- between
- the
- Reformation
- and
- the
- nineteenth
- century.
- Sodom
- was
- not
- only
- a
- marker
- of
- sexual
- sins,
- but
- also
- the
- epitome
- of
- false—usually
- Catholic—religion,
- an
- exemplar
- of
- the
- iniquitous
- city,
- a
- foreshadowing
- of
- the
- world’s
- fiery
- end,
- an
- epitome
- of
- divine
- and
- earthly
- punishment,
- and
- an
- actual
- place
- that
- could
- be
- searched
- for
- and
- discovered.
- Visions
- of
- Sodom
- investigates
- each
- of
- these
- ways
- of
- reading
- Sodom’s
- annihilation
- in
- the
- three
- hundred
- years
- after
- the
- Reformation.
- The
- centrality
- of
- scripture
- to
- Protestant
- faith
- meant
- that
- Sodom’s
- demise
- provided
- a
- powerful
- origin
- myth
- of
- homoerotic
- desire
- and
- sexual
- excess,
- one
- that
- persisted
- across
- centuries,
- and
- retains
- an
- apocalyptic
- echo
- in
- the
- religious
- fundamentalism
- of
- our
- own time.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
