There's certainly literary precedent for sleeping naked. Marlowe's Hero
"stayed not for her robes" when Leander knocks. Bill Oram
>>> Margaret Christian <[log in to unmask]> 12/4/2006 12:51 PM >>>
Good friends,
Please indulge me and share your learned insights on an off-topic
query. I was discussing Coleridge's Christabel with a class today,
and they were much taken by the detail of the two ladies disrobing
before sharing the bed. "Wasn't it usual to wear dressing gowns and
caps and everything? Why are they undressing in front of each other?"
The psychosexual reading appealed to them a lot, but I reminded them
of Sir Gawain, trapped naked under the covers by his hostess (and
Chaucer's characters, who don't seem unduly hampered by layers of
fabric), and suggested that maybe Coleridge assumed that it wasn't
usual to wear gowns, etc.
Anyway, in the real pre-modern world (as opposed to bawdy, medieval
romance, and gothic revival fantasy), what did people wear to bed?
Many thanks,
Margaret R. Christian, Ph.D.
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Associate Professor of English Office: (610)
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Penn State Lehigh
Valley Home: (610) 562-0163
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http://www.lv.psu.edu/professional/mrc1/
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