Table of Contents: Introduction
i. Libertine fiction: a nocturnal genre?
ii. Libertine nocturnes
iii. The ‘Nocturnal Order’ of libertine nights
iv. The eroticisation of the nocturnal
v. The nocturnalisation of eroticism
vi. Chapter outline
1. Enlightening the night: a cultural and historical perspective on eighteenth-century nights
i. Intellectual enlightenment
ii. Material enlightenment
2. The nocturnal aesthetics of libertine fiction
i. Libertine writing, pornography and obscurity
ii. The embellishing obscurity of Crébillon’s oriental tales
iii. The eroticism of demi-jours in Le Souper des petits-maîtres and Les Soupers de Daphné
iv. Voluptuous shadows in Thémidore
v. Félicia and sublime obscurity
3. Night as a hiding space
i. Night as a private space within communal living in Le Portier des chartreux and Mémoires de Suzon
ii. Night as an indulgent architectural space in La Petite Maison
iii. Night as an intimate body part in La Nuit merveilleuse
4. Nocturnal illusions: dreams of sylph-like lovers
i. The dream: the sleep of reason produces sylphs in Le Sylphe
ii. The mistake: the genie Makis, or the mistaken lover in Angola
iii. The lie: Clitandre, or a sylph of no consequence in La Nuit et le moment
iv. The illusion: Mirbelle, or the fleshless sylph in Les Malheurs de l’inconstance
5. Nocturnal revelations
i. Damon’s Nyctelian initiation in Point de lendemain
ii. Laure’s nocturnal education in Le Rideau levé
iii. Cécile’s nightly enlightenment in Les Liaisons dangereuses
6. Queens of the night: women and their nocturnal mystery in Les Liaisons dangereuses
i. The marquise de Merteuil’s nights, or the masquerade of femininity
ii. The présidente de Tourvel’s shadow, or the female mystery
7. The end of libertine nights: Les Cent Vingt Journées de Sodome
i. Sade’s Gothic and sublime nocturnes: within the dark night of the soul
ii. The Sadean nocturnal fortress
iii. Sade versus the libertine clair-obscur
Epilogue: beyond libertine nights – mornings and morrows
i. Mornings
ii. Morrows
Bibliography
Index