This article explores the enduring appeal of the romantic monster, tracing its roots from ancient mythology to modern erotica.
Every romance novel I’ve ever seen could be summed up as ‘Love for woman tames dangerous man,’ writes one Reddit fanfic devotee with the weary resignation of someone who has put far too much time into confirming this point. The untamed anti-hero may be a glamorous cad, but he may equally be the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Romantic monsters, apparently, resemble the second kind. “They are just more dangerous. And often hairier.” Like men, in other words, but more so.
As readers of these pages know, steamy romance novels are the publishing phenomenon du jour. Monsters (and other “non-humans”), having emerged from the online erotica sites where they have been vigorously doing whatever they do in the shadows for years, are now at the forefront of that new wave. The bad Beast – be it a shapeshifting werewolf, a vampire or an alien – is the new Other, frightening but also exercising a terrible allure. Shapeshifting mythical beasts are not new, of course; the Greeks, inventors of the Minotaur, were there first. Olympian gods were always turning into monsters, often for erotic purposes. The mighty Zeus would become anything that came to his celestial mind – a swan, a bull, even a shower of gold – to mate with whichever nymph he fancied without being spotted by his wife, Hera. Spartan queen Leda’s encounter with the swan was a favourite subject for Renaissance artists, always depicted – despite the story’s suspect sexual assault vibes – as a transport of feathery bliss. Sexuality was anarchic and animal, a troubling primal urge. In these stories and the work inspired by them, that urge that could be unleashed in safety., written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve in 1740 as a salon entertainment, date back 4000 years. Dutiful Beauty goes to live with the cursed Beast as a forfeit after her father is caught stealing his roses. With her, the Beast is courtly, kind and adoring; she falls in love with hi
Mythology Literature Culture ROMANCE MYTHOLOGY LITERATURE CULTURE MONSTERS
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