Sodom, or the Quintessence of Debauchery

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Sodom is a seventeenth century restoration play. The work is thought to be (though not definitively) that of John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester. Determining the date of composition and attribution are complicated owing mostly to misattribution of evidence for and against Rochester's authorship in Restoration and later texts.

Whether by Rochester or not, Sodom merits attention not just as an early piece of pornography, but also as a disguised satire on the court of Charles II and especially of his apparent willingness to tolerate Catholicism in England at a time when that religion was officially proscribed. Written presumably at the time of Charles's 1672 Declaration of Indulgence (which promulgated official toleration of Catholics and others), Sodom delineates in its racy plot a king much like Charles whose insistence on promoting his sexual preference for sodomy can be read as an analogue to the debate in England at the time about the king's real motive in pushing religious toleration.