Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence From Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson
Review by Cat Ballou, submitted on 26-Sep-1991

Paglia, Camille. SEXUAL PERSONAE: Art and Decadence From Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson. New York: Vintage Books, 1991. $15.00

In this collection of critical essays, Paglia attacks the literary canon from its very beginning. By emphasizing and revealing the underlying themes of vampirism and other daemonic paths, one looks at the classics in an altogether new light (or rather, darkness).

In "The Daemon as Lesbian Vampire" chapter, she focuses on the works of Coleridge and other 18th century figures: "The universe has become a theater of sex and poetry." The Madonna is now the Whore of Babylon, whose "lips are red with provocation and the blood of her victims--she is the vampire who haunts men's dreams."

Potential readers unfamiliar with Paglia should be warned about her abrupt and often eruditious style. She is a child of the 60s that never grew up, in a very pleasing sort of way. To her, the world of art and literature is a pagan battleground.