Obsession in Literature

Hi guys,

i am doing a dissertation on obsession within literature, most specifically romantic or sexual obsession and i'm struggling to find novels on the topic.

Would really appreciate the help! Can anyone think of any?

I already have The Collector by John Fowles and Enduring Love by Ian McEwan..

They preferably have to be British authors.....?

ANY HELP APPRECIATED!!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by izzi_belle

The Collector by John Fowles [/U][/B]

---

This one was the first one that came to my mind too.

How about Lolita, Wuthering Heights, The Colour Purple, Engleby or Perfume?

Wuthering Heights is probably the best example of obsession and Lolita is also right up there in the obsession stakes but Of Human Bondage must be counted among the most anguished examples of obsession in English literature.

What about the murderous obsession of Bradley Headstone for Lizzie in Our Mutual Friend? There's also that of Brian de Bois-Guilbert for Rebecca in Ivanhoe.

How about Mr. B and Pamela from Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson. British author and the book was published around 1740. The wikipedia article gives a pretty accurate depiction of the measures Mr. B takes in pursuit of Pamela.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamela,_or_Virtue_Rewarded

Lolita, Sorrows of Young Werther

Lolita and Wuthering Heights are the obvious two. You could hardly do a paper on love/sexual obsession in literature and not mention them.

Brian de Bois-Guilbert in Ivanhoe would be very good together with Wuthering Heights. He is a Byronic Hero.

*post ediited* I missed the part at first which said they should be Brittish

D.H. Lawrence is a good one of Love/Lust obsession:

Women in Love
Sons and Lovers
The Rainbow

Of Human Bondage by William Somerset Maugham

Vanity Fair - watch the men fall for Becky Sharp like moths falling into a flame...

Yep, Sons and Lovers is a good choice.

Death in Venice - Thomas Mann, one of the most perfect examples

Albert Cohen's 'Belle du Seigneur' (translated, I think, as 'Her Lover').

British:
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Northanger Abbey

Not British:
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Crucible

Not British or really sexual but Don Quixote. We also have Paradise Lost, which is English, wherein Satan is obsessed with being autonomous from God.

Othello

Lovelace in Clarissa by Richardson. There's also the chap in He Knew he Was Right by Trollope. I've forgotten his name, but he destroys himself and his marriage with unfounded jealousy.

moby dick.

love in the time of cholera