In order to evaluate the way sexuality is 'commodified' in a world where “all things come into Commerce, and passe into traffique” [35], we must first examine the notion of the “commodity” itself. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term “commodity” gradually shifted throughout the 16th century from embodying a sense of convenience or utility to a more negative connotation reflecting a sense of private or selfish interest. This shift corresponds with the rise of capitalism and the growing market economy during England at this time; the linguistic adjustment of the term “commodity” parallels precisely the cultural adjustment England was making to the nascent capitalism of this period, for as Michael Bristol noted, “the appearance of the commodity form and the habits of cultural consumption significantly weakened kinship affiliations and other traditional bonds of the great households, municipal guilds, and rural communities” [5]. As capitalism slowly intruded upon the communal bonds of English society, and cooperative market relationships gave way to impersonal and self-interested patterns of exchange, it is no surprise that the literature of the period reflects the emerging sentiment that ‘everything can be commodified’, or as Freevill puts it in The Dutch Courtesan, “all things have been sold – honor, justice, faith, nay even God Himself” (I.i.119-20).

The Shifting "Commodity" (according to the Oxford English Dictionary): 

COMMODITY:

1.    a. As a quality or condition of things, in relation to the desires or needs of men, etc.: The quality of being ‘commodious’; conveniency, suitability, fitting utility; commodiousness.
    b. Convenient access to or supply of.

2. As a property of the person, etc., affected:    

a. Convenience.
    b. Expediency. Obs.

    c. Advantage, benefit, profit, interest: often in the sense of private or selfish interest.
    d. Profit, gain.

3. A convenience, advantage, benefit, interest.

4. Convenient juncture of events; opportunity, occasion.

5. A thing of ‘commodity’, a thing of use or advantage to mankind; esp. in pl. useful products, material advantages, elements of wealth.

6. A kind of thing produced for use or sale, an article of commerce, an object of trade; in pl. goods, merchandise, wares, produce. Now esp. food or raw materials, as objects of trade. staple commodity: leading article of trade.

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