This study focuses on the rules for sexual behaviour in conduct books, published in the Netherlands between 1780 and 1870. The analysis is based on two types of conduct books: the marriage manual and the conduct book for young adults. At the end of the eighteenth century, both types of books are already well established. At this point in time, however, a variation within the last type is developing: the conduct book for young women. Central to the analysis is the question how the rules for sexual conduct are to be interpreted. This question stems from the juxtaposition of continuity and change in these guidelines: the advice of the late eighteenth- and nineteenth-centuries follows the same pattern as that of the early-modern period: sexual intercourse is reserved for mar¬ried couples. As far as the content is concerned, the instructions of the later period are similar to the ones of the former period. The way in which the late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century rules are presented, however, differs considerably from the formulation of the early-modern ones. Whereas the earlier advice is given in a straight-forward manner, the later guidelines are formulated in a very complex way. The form is dominated by specific narrative strategies, especially the creating of contrasts and the trans¬formation of these contrasts into moral categories. These strategies leave the reader with the impression that any transgression of the rules constitutes a sin, and will bring misfortune. As a result, the late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century conduct books are far more compelling than the early-modern ones. Interestingly, in every type of conduct book the narrative strategies are used differently. In the marriage manuals they appear only in the paragraphs discussing the choice of spouse. This advice is directed at the not-yet-wedded, that is - in the contemporary mentalité - at young adults. In the conduct books for young adults the strategies are used more widely. In the books for young women they are present not only in the ...