Early modernists Aphra Behn and John Wilmot Earl of Rochester drew upon the work of René Descartes who developed new philosophical concepts of the human body’s physiological and psychological workings. For example, In Discourse on the Method, Descartes presents his theory of Dualism which proposes not only a separation but a hierarchy between the mind and body, connected by the pineal gland in the brain. Aphra Behn’s “The Disappointment” features Cartesian failures of mind/body communication and explores how the body reacts differently between sexual pleasure and love. Rochester’s “Imperfect Enjoyment” emphasizes the objectification of the body as a machine composed of different parts, which is ineffectual and dead without the res cogitans. Descartes created the schema through which early modern writers like Behn and Rochester portrayed sexuality in their work by formulating a conception of the relationship between the mind and physical body.
Cartesian dualism influences how “The Disappointment” examines Cloris and Lisander’s sexual and romantic choices, emotions, and experiences. Descartes’ theory describes the body and mind existing as separate entities, stating that without the control of the mind, the body is an inanimate pile of flesh. The speaker acknowledges this juxtaposition clearly, stating that as Cloris’s “balmy lips encountring his, / Their Bodies as their minds are joyn’d” (Behn, line 52). This union is precipitated by the physical contact of their lips touching, and by Descartes’ theory, this movement is ultimately created by their minds’ desire to do so. In The Passions of the Soul, he states that love is “the assent by which we consider ourselves henceforth as joined with what we love in such a manner that we imagine a whole…” This describes the same “assent” as the speaker portrays in “The Disappointment”—the phrasing, “Their Bodies as their minds are joyn’d” (Behn, line 52), implies that Cloris and Lisander’s minds were already unified before their bodies came into contact, causing the reader to wonder whether they are in love. For a poem seemingly about casual sex and a fleeting moment of gratification, it is surprising that the word “Pleasure” is only used twice, while the word “Love” is used 11 times throughout. The speaker juxtaposes love and pleasure as two different feelings originating from the mind and the body respectively, a Cartesian contrastive motif that is repeated throughout.
Descartes’ dualism also guides how Behn portrays Lisander’s impotence, defining the interaction between his res cogitans and res extensa. Although Lisander is portrayed on the surface level as a sexually excitable young man looking for some fun, the conflict between his true emotions and lust is conveyed here for the first time: “Her loose thin Robes, through which appear / A Shape design’d for Love and Play” (Behn, line 73-4). While he is degrading her body purely into a “Shape” without a res cogitans, he also views it as created for both acts of love and play, or sexual pleasure. The two have become intertwined for him, which later causes his troubles with impotence. Lisander’s arousal progresses in a manner indicative of his internal struggle with his feelings towards Cloris. In the beginning, he “lay trembling at her feet'' with desire, a feeling which Descartes describes in Passions as “[agitating] the heart more violently than any other passion...Passing from there into the muscles, these spirits...make all the parts of the body more mobile.” This is exactly how Lisander’s body is affected, supported by the speaker later describing his “burning trembling Hand” (Behn, line 46). In the climax of the poem, Lisander fulfills the title as he ejaculates too early, finding that “the vast Pleasure turn’d to Pain : / Pleasure, which too much Love destroys !” (Behn, 83-4). In line 98, the speaker also states that “Excess of Love his Love betray’d” as Lisander finds that he is in love with Cloris, which unfortunate discovery destroys the experience of casual sex he desired. By Descartes’ theory in Passions, the feeling of love has prompted his pineal gland, “the principal seat of the soul,” to send impulses into his muscles causing an erection; the speaker refers to these impulses using multiple fire-related metaphors such as fire, flame, and spark: “Now all the Brisk and Active Fire / That should the Nobler Part inflame, Unactive Frigid, Dull became, / And left no Spark for new Desire” (Behn, 95-8) Behn again uses the metaphor of fire to convey that Lisander’s mind has overloaded his body with these signals in a fatal misfire and overestimation, damning him “to the Hell of Impotence.”
“The Imperfect Enjoyment” by John Wilmot Earl of Rochester draws inspiration from Descartes’ theory of the corporeal body existing as a machine powered by the res cogitans and having no life without it. In Passions, Descartes states that “the difference between the body of a living man and that of a dead man is just like the difference between… a watch...when it is wound up… and, on the other hand, the same watch or machine when it is broken.” The speaker is excited and physically aroused in the beginning of the poem conveyed using the metaphor of fire again— “Both equally inspired with eager fire, / Melting through kindness, flaming in desire”, but by the end, in his impotence, he describes himself as an inanimate object: “A wishing, weak, unmoving lump I lie” (Rochester, line 36). Without the influence of his res cogitans generating blood to his limbs and penis, he is nothing but a “lump,” or Descartes’ broken watch. In Passions, Descartes specifically denotes a bodily reaction of “listlessness” in the face of desire, which appears to be happening to the speaker, “...being entirely engaged in strengthening the idea of the desired object, this agitation leaves the rest of the body in a listless state.” He is so involved in perpetuating his own erection and then battling the “succeeding shame [that] does more success prevent,” that he becomes “shrunk up and sapless like a withered flower” (Rochester, line 45). The speaker’s body has failed to communicate properly between the res extensa and the res cogitans, and this has caused a tragic disconnect between the pineal gland and his “all-dissolving thunderbolt” (Rochester, line 10).
The works of Aphra Behn and John Wilmot Earl of Rochester were influenced by the philosophical concepts in Descartes’ works Discourse on the Method and The Passions of the Soul. The speakers of their poems convey a schism but also a union between the mind and body, powering both their emotions and physical movements and sensations. Lisander in Behn’s poem is condemned to impotence because of his excess of love, and the speaker in Rochester’s poem is condemned to impotence because of his excess of desire and insecurity. Their bodies function piece by piece as a system, transferring emotions from the pineal gland through the spirits and into the muscles, triggering movement...or a lack thereof. Cartesian dualism influenced these bawdy works of the late 1700s by creating a subtle framework through which authors such as Rochester and Behn formulated their characters’ feelings and actions.