Until well into the 20th century, explicit sexual allusions were a taboo subject in European literature and art.

The contributions gathered in this volume explore the multi-faceted, oftentimes ambivalent functions of the tear which can serve as an expression of emotions, as an aesthetic element, or as a signal of subtle erotic tension. The authors analyze subtexts in prominent and less prominent French prose texts of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, which have mostly been overlooked in previous research.