
audiobook
by Anonymous
| Transcriber's note: | A few typographical errors have been corrected. They appear in the text like this, and the explanation will appear when the mouse pointer is moved over the marked passage. |
The Curtezan unmasked:
A sharply observational pamphlet from mid‑17th‑century London, this work opens with a fervent appeal to protect the mind from a seductive “strange woman” whose charms are likened to honey‑sweet lies and poisonous venom. The author blends biblical warnings, classical allusions, and the language of early modern medicine to cast the figure of Jezebel as a contagion that spreads the fever of lust through society.
Through vivid, almost theatrical descriptions, the narrator lays bare the woman’s painted façade, counterfeit beauty, and relentless manipulation of desire. He treats her allure as a disease, detailing how even guarded hearts can succumb, and then offers a series of moral “antidotes” meant to cool the feverish passions of men.
The piece is both a moral treatise and a satirical portrait of contemporary anxieties about sexuality and deception. Listeners will hear a richly textured voice that balances moral urgency with a flamboyant, almost theatrical flair, providing a rare glimpse into the rhetoric and concerns of a bygone age.
Full title
The Curtezan unmasked; or, The Whoredomes of Jezebel Painted to the Life With Antidotes against them, or Heavenly Julips to cool Men in the Fever of Lust. With Antidotes against them, or Heavenly Julips to cool Men in the Fever of Lust.
Language
en
Duration
~41 minutes (39K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Keith Edkins and The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
Release date
2010-09-16
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Some of the world's oldest and most enduring stories come to us without a known writer. When a book is credited to "Anonymous," it usually means the author's identity was never recorded, was deliberately withheld, or has been lost over time.
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