Plt;bPgt;P#8216;Everything great in Western culture has come from the quarrel with nature P#8230; The most effective weapon against the flux of nature is art.P#8217; Plt;/bPgt; In this blazing work of brilliant originality, a phenomenon ever since it was first published in 1990, Camille Paglia outlines a new unified theory of Western art and literature and the primacy of sex and violence within it. Identifying the competing symbolic forces of Apollo and Dionysus P#8213; reason and instinct, order and chaos, logic and passion, male and female, civilisation and nature P#8213; Plt;iPgt;Sexual PersonaePlt;/iPgt; outlines key archetypes that embody different levels of Apollonian and Dionysian forces: the Great Mother, the beautiful boy, the femme fatale, the Amazon, amongst many others, and traces how these archetypes have animated the pagan battle that underlies all Western art and culture. Audacious, vastly erudite, and wildly entertaining, Plt;iPgt;Sexual PersonaePlt;/iPgt; is art history that invites us to see the entire world anew.Plt;brPgt;Plt;brPgt;Plt;brPgt;Plt;brPgt;P#8216;A fine, disturbing book. It seeks to attack the readerP#8217;s emotions as well as his/her prejudices. It is very learned. Each sentence jabs like a needle.P#8217;Plt;brPgt;Plt;bPgt;P#8212;Anthony BurgessPlt;/bPgt;Plt;brPgt;Plt;brPgt;P#8216;The ability to infuriate both antagonists in an ideological struggle is often a sign of a first-rate book P#8230; Paglia is a conspicuously gifted writer P#8230; and an admirably close reader with a hard core of common sense.P#8217;Plt;brPgt;Plt;bPgt;P#8212;Plt;iPgt;The New York Times Book ReviewPlt;/iPgt;Plt;/bPgt;Plt;brPgt;Plt;brPgt;P#8216;Plt;iPgt;Sexual PersonaePlt;/iPgt; an enormous sensation of a book P#8230; there is no book comparable in scope, stance, design, or insight P#8230; A masterwork.P#8217;Plt;brPgt;Plt;bPgt;P#8212;Harold BloomPlt;/bPgt;

Details

ISBN13: 9781761382000
Format: Paperback / softback
Number of Pages: 736
Edition:
Publication Date: 04 Aug 2026
Publisher: Scribe Publications
Publication City, Country: Carlton North, Australia
Dimensions (cm): 19.7(H)x13.1(L)x4.8(W)566
Weight (gm): 566

Author Biography

Camille Paglia is a scholar and culture critic who taught at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia for nearly 40 years. She is also the author of Plt;iPgt;Sex, Art, and American CulturePlt;/iPgt;; Plt;iPgt;Vamps Pamp; TrampsPlt;/iPgt;; Plt;iPgt;The BirdsPlt;/iPgt;; Plt;iPgt;Break, Blow, BurnPlt;/iPgt;; Plt;iPgt;Glittering ImagesPlt;/iPgt;; Plt;iPgt;Free Women, Free Men; and ProvocationsPlt;/iPgt;.

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