Prior to the 1860s, it would be unthinkable for an American novelist to write about explicit sexuality.

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American literature prior to the 1860s did include works that explored themes of sexuality, although often in more veiled or allegorical terms compared to modern standards. Writers like Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville, for example, incorporated complex explorations of human desires and relationships in their works, albeit not in explicitly sexual terms by today's standards.

Prior to the 1860s, It Would Be Unthinkable for an American