Book Description

The Farce of Sodom is a sexually explicit play which satirizes the reign of Charles II of England during the Restoration of the English monarchy. Explicit and uncompromising in tone, this send-up of the Royal Court grossly exaggerates the rumors surrounding the court of the king. We witness the homosexual King Bolloximian ban ordinary sexual intercourse in his kingdom, decreeing that only anal intercourse be permitted among the entire population. The excesses of the wealthy are shown in a sequence of erotic acts in a court preoccupied with luxuriating in debauchery. Eventually the nature of the acts the wealthy are consigned to perform upsets enough members of the court, and King Bolloximian is violently deposed. He and his closest companions are then consigned to hellfire. Although this play has a politically satirical edge in its portrayals of the English upper class, it is mostly considered by scholars to be an example of early erotic literature. Much English sexual slang is demonstrated, with most of the character's names being a play on these terms. The dialogue commonly lapses to lewd rhyming, and the narration and plot is heavily supported by sexual acts spontaneously performed between characters with the barest of pretexts. Banned for centuries, during recent years The Farce of Sodom has attracted renewed appreciation, with a version of the drama staged at the 2011 Edinburgh Festival.