For the gates of prostitution in poetry: hardy, régnier and gregh’s late nineteenth-early twentieth century sacred ruined maidens

Abstract

Considering that prostitution has been a controversial topic in almost all societies, it is inevitable that it has become a recurrent content approached in literature. Therefore, it seemed necessary and inescapable the study of prostitution inside poetry. The poems analysed are The Ruined Maid (1903), by Thomas Hardy; For the Gate of the Courtesans (1912) by Henri de Régnier, and Courtesans (1912), by Fernand Gregh. The analysis focus is literary with the support of historical-sociological evidence and it contrasts the figure of the prostitutes: a positive, reinforced by the archetype of the Sacred Prostitute, and a negative image, reinforced by the impressions of the societies of the Victorian Era and the Belle Époque. Both images are depicted through the words of the poets. The analysis was conducted based on the bibliographical and analytical methods.