In Pride and Prejudice, it seems that the whole book is about the sexual tension between Darcy and Elizabeth. The people got all obsessed about balls and dancing because it was the only socially acceptable way to touch a person of the opposite sex.

So, male sexual fantasy = art (Last Tango in Paris, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, Eyes Wide Shut, Body Heat).

Yes - I do wonder if a large amount of this discussion can be summed up as “the female gaze makes men uncomfortable.”

“The costume drama, the argument goes, was once a reliable straight adaptation where sex was a mere afterthought, less valued than a lovingly accurate depiction of either source material or subject matter.”

tl;dr