ABSTRACT
Basic precepts of Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and Malthus’ Essay on the Principle of Population (1798) will become yardsticks against which a selection of fictional heroes will be judged in this chapter. We will have the chance to see how Laurence Sterne’s Yorick, Lord Byron’s legendary Don Juan and Emmanuel Roidis’ anonymous, yet notorious, “Sensitive Man” employ sympathy and sex(uality) not only as means of self-expression and gratification but also as a vehicle for self-subversion. With the valuable aid of this ostensibly motley crew of theorists and novelists, I will assess both the increasing dissemination of economic ideas and the aesthetic output of this international sentimental commerce in fictional texts. Therefore, I will show how key concepts of economic theory (sympathy, the impartial spectator, preventive population checks) are satirically embedded into emblematic literary texts, both in Britain and Greece, while further advancing the ongoing dialogue between Economics and the Humanities.
