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There is the famous line from The Spanish Tragedy HIERONIMO in his shirt, What outcries pluck me from my naked bed So he too seems to be wearing a shirt. Best wishes, Richard Ramsey > You might have a look at Laura Gowing's _Common Bodies: Women, Touch > and Power in Seventeenth-Century England_ (Yale, 2003), which discusses > early modern meanings for "nakedness". Gowing quotes a conduct book's > observation that "apparel may be called the body of the body" and notes > that nakedness didn't necessarily preclude clothing -- so, for instance, > the common phrase "naked in her smock" (p. 34). See the whole section > "Unbuttoning to Entice," 34 ff. > > Amelia Zurcher > Marquette University > > Margaret Christian wrote: >> 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. >> [log in to unmask] >> Associate Professor of English Office: >> (610) 285-5106 >> Penn State Lehigh Valley >> Home: (610) 562-0163 >> 8380 Mohr Lane fax: >> (610) 285-5220 >> Fogelsville, PA 18051 USA >> http://www.lv.psu.edu/professional/mrc1/ >> >