Incest, defined as sexual relations between close kin (usually members of the same nuclear family), has received relatively scant theoretical attention compared to its prohibition—the incest taboo. The latter arrangement has been the subject of...

Initially it should be noted that incest exists in a variety of forms. There is the uncondoned variety which occurs in societies such as our own in violation of explicit rules against it. There are also numerous examples from other times and places...

Incest and its prohibition or avoidance are closely related social phenomena. However, the two topics have very distinct if not contrary intellectual histories in the social sciences. Incest, usually defined as sexual relations between close kin such...

Sexual relationships between close relations. The prohibited relationships are listed in *Leviticus 18:6–18 and the *Talmud extended this catalogue. The product of an incestuous (as well as an *adulterous) relationship is a *mamzer. Incest,...

Incest is defined as sexual intercourse or any form of sexual activity between closely related persons, especially within the nuclear family. When the activity is non-consensual, it is considered a form of sexual abuse, and when one of the family...

Dear Amy: I need your help. I am a 25-year-old single female. My father and stepmother have been married for 17 years. Recently, my stepmother's cousin moved back to town after being gone for a while. I have seen him a few times and...

Incest, Sexuality, and Modernity ELLEN POLLAK, Incest and the English Novel, 1684-1814 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 2003), pp. 280, hardcover, $39.95 Incest narratives abound in the eighteenth century. So it is strange that their significance has remained largely unexplored within literary scholarship. Part...

Lawmakers who watched as a near-total ban on abortions failed in South Dakota voting booths last year have revived the legislation with changes that may make the difference in public acceptance. But the bill's success is far from assured.None of the Legislature's leaders, notably some...

Lawmakers who watched as a near-total ban on abortions failed in South Dakota voting booths last year have revived the legislation with changes that may make the difference in public acceptance. But the bill's success is far from assured.None of the Legislature's leaders, notably some...

In the following essay, Donovan traces the publishing history of Laon and Cythna, from its inception to its reprinting as The Revolt of Islam, and argues that the changes between the two versions make it difficult to understand Shelley's intent.

In the following excerpt, McCabe surveys Shakespeare's subtle and varied use of the incest motif in his histories, tragedies, and romances.

In the following essay, Twitchell examines the incest taboo in the context of a developing American social order, which chronologically coincided with the rise of the gothic novel.