Feeling Pleasures
The Sense of Touch in Renaissance England
Joe Moshenska
From Our Blog
Shakespeare made many gifts to the English language, but his most memorable gift in the particularly rich and rarefied area of euphemisms for sexual intercourse comes in the opening scene of Othello, when Iago strives to provoke Desdemona's father Brabantio to outrage with the news that 'your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs.'
Posted on February 14, 2016
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In April 2009, Barack and Michelle Obama met Queen Elizabeth I during their first state visit to England. At one point during their encounter, Michelle Obama put her arm around the Queen's lower back and rubbed her shoulder, and the Queen reciprocated. It was the kind of gesture that might seem quite unremarkable when exchanged by friends, or even casual acquaintances: but, given the participants on this particular occasion, it unsurprisingly attracted a great deal more attention.
Posted on December 6, 2014
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