Henry Fielding and Lawrence's "Old Adam." A Reading of Restoration and Eighteenth-Century British Literature

Examines canonical texts from the unusual perspective of D. H. Lawrence's remarks on Restoration literature. After defining `the Old Adam' as a perennial target of ideology in the West, the book discusses the taming of the Old Adam, "glorying in the dirt" (from Lawrence's remarks) in Restoration comedy as opposed to Fielding's comic stage, Richardson's "underclothing excitements" in contrast to Fielding's sexual consciousness, Clarissa as sexual vengeance, `the Old Eve' and `the Old Adam' in Tom Jones, the disappearance of the "substantial" body from English literature, and, in conclusion, modern efforts to bring "physical consciousness" back into the novel.