Power, Control and Silence: Sexual Violence in Elizabethan Prose Fiction (original) (raw)

Arche-Violence and Rape in Thomas Middleton’s Women Beware Women

(Re)defining gender in early modern English drama Power, sexualities and ideologies in text and performance, 2020

This study is prompted by Jacques Derrida’s idea of “arche-violence” to highlight the necessity of dismantling the concepts that are taken for granted and regarded as established and immutable. The aim is to draw upon Derridean arche-violence and feminist discourses inspired by his ideas in order to explore the root causes of gender-based violence and to examine the ways in which linguistic structures of power solidify rape culture in Thomas Middleton’s Women Beware Women. Because of the abundant violence committed against women in early modern English society, arche-violence can be aptly discussed in the context of Jacobean drama to expose what stimulus in this period prompted rape representations and by extension, all rape depictions in cultural products. Regarding the popularity of stage productions in Jacobean England, the exploration of the cultural context in which rape narratives were written reveals the cultural understanding of the female gender in Women Beware Women and the ways in which arche-violence acts out to support the offensive representations of women.

The Myth of Rape in Eighteenth-Century Literature

World Journal of English Language, 2023

Rape as propaganda is the main focus of this study. Feminist scholars and activists have investigated rape in English history and discussed how this term was used by men to dominate women and spread fear amongst them. The patriarchal society of the early eighteenth-century England used rape in order to limit the freedom of female movement. Women were led to believe that their state of safety lies within their willingness to trade submission to a man for protection from all other men. This study investigates attitudes of rape and near rape attempts which were used in three seventeenth and eighteenth-century texts; Aphra Behn’s The Rover (1677), Eliza Haywood’s The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless (1751), and Frances Burney’s novel Evelina (1778). These attitudes were presented in order to portray different ideas such as a critique of the patriarchal society, to warn women of the dangers they might face out of the domestic sphere and perks of abiding by the social conduct, and also t...

Maps of Woe Narratives of Rape in Early Modern England

Journal of Early Modern Studies, 2013

By considering a selection of texts, both fictional and non-fictional, this study addresses different representations of rape in early modern English culture. Its aim is to highlight the interconnections between aspects of culture and the creative exchange, the confrontation and mutual assimilation between 'high' and 'low' cultural forms.

Defining Women: Masculine Violence in Defoe, Pope, and Swift

This paper examines the Amazon trope in the narratives of the early eighteenth century. Based on Defoe's Roxana, it first explores diachronically the origin of Amazon warriors in ancient Greek historical works and examines how the ancient foremothers and the modern English heiress are related; then it synchronically compares Roxana with her counterpart, Belinda, in Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock, and further with Irish women in Jonathan Swift's Irish Tracts. The perpendicular approaches lay open different acts of masculine violence in literary works. Historically the Amazons were forced to murder, forced sexual acts, and humiliation; in like manner, Roxana is accused of filicide and cannot be exempt from her downfall. Contemporarily Roxana-and Belinda-like women are characterized as concealing male agency of mercantilism and male violence of imperial enterprise, while they, English or Irish, are further commodified and made the sites of cultural corruption and scapegoats for economic recession and trade deficits.

Shakespeare’s representations of rape

2016

Th e essay surveys representations of rape in selected Shakespeare's works. Th e subject fascinated Shakespeare throughout his career. It appeared for the fi rst time in his early narrative poem Th e Rape of Lucrece and in one of his fi rst tragedies Titus Andronicus. Th ough his later works, unlike these two, do not represent sexual assaults upon women graphically, rape is present in almost all his Roman and history plays (e.g. Coriolanus, Henry V, Henry VI), comedies (e.g. A Midsummer Night's Dream, Measure for Measure) and romances (e.g. Cymbeline, Pericles, Th e Tempest). Since in Shakespeare's England the social structure prioritized male power, women were treated as men's property. Any accomplished or attempted sexual violation of women polarized male legal and emotional bonding, and it also disrupted and/or empowered homosocial solidarity. A preliminary study of the presence and dramatic use of rape shows a distinctive evolution in Shakespeare's attitude to this omnipresent subject. One reason for this change might be a shift in the legal classifi cation of rape in Elizabethan England: from a crime against (male) property to a crime against an individual.

Reading Narratives of Rape: The Story of Lucretia in Chaucer, Gower and Christine de Pizan

Leeds Studies in English, 2000

Like Chaucer's, Christine de Pizan's collection of tales about women is introduced by a dramatic prologue involving the writer of the collection, both as narrator and in propria persona, in which the reader is shown the source of her inspiration. The text is depicted as arising out of Christine's having chanced to read an antifeminist text, an experience which prompts reactions of depression and ultimately of disbelief. De Pizan also dramatizes these reactions: instead of the god of love, three women, Reason, Rectitude and Justice, visit her, and they help her to develop her metaphor of the City of Ladies. 5 The collection rewrites stories from the Bible, from classical writers such as Livy, and from more recent history in order to vindicate the women in these texts. De Pizan positions it explicitly as a defence of women, and implicitly as an exercise in morale-building among women. This dual perspective on its intended audience needs to be borne in mind in any consideration of its contents, and of its style, as does its author's self-representation. This paper focuses on reader-response to the male and female sexual roles posited by romance and romantic texts, and on notions of a female masochism that is erotic, rather than psychological. It explores the ways in which literature, and the responses it provokes which fuel eroticism, may have an impact when the reader arrives at a fictional narrative of rape, especially when the narrative is troped in the way that Gower, and in a slightly different and more knowing way, Chaucer, trope their narratives of the rape of Lucretia. The authors of these narratives selfconsciously open up an interpretive space by choosing to tell a classical story that was almost certainly mythical. The texts are additionally removed from their modern readers by the remoteness of their dates of composition. I shall address the possibility that these medieval fictions of rape may offer their readers the opportunity to explore relationships between sexual pleasure and the literary conventions of male and female desire. These narratives may be seen to play on rituals of courtship and consummation posited in romance texts, but to offer a version of these in which the male role remains fixed. At the same time these texts appear to offer a space in which the parameters of homosocial relationships and the slippage between desire and identification with an abject sexuality may be explored. Public Reading/Private Response In his essay 'Placing Reading: Ancient Israel and Medieval Europe' Daniel Boyarin suggests that the thirteenth century saw the transition of reading in European culture from an oral, public activity to a private one, and argues that this transition

Rape Culture and Consent in Contemporary Anglophone Women’s Rewritings of the Classical Tradition

Crossing Boundaries: Transatlantic Dialogues and Gendered Narratives. Selected Papers from the 46th International Conference of the Spanish Association of Anglo-American Studies (AEDEAN). Francisco J. Alonso Almeida and Carmen I. Luján García (eds.), 2024

In "Rape Culture and Consent in Contemporary Anglophone Women’s Rewritings of the Classical Tradition," the reader finds an incisive analysis of how modern women authors reinterpret classical myths to challenge and subvert the traditional narratives of sexual violence and consent. By examining works such as Elizabeth Cook’s Achilles (2001), Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls (2018), Jennifer Saint’s Ariadne (2021), and Natalie Haynes’ Stone Blind (2022), the paper underscores the critical importance of these reimaginings in addressing rape culture and promoting a culture of consent. One of the article’s strengths is its critical engagement with the concept of rape myths, which are pervasive false beliefs about rape that perpetuate victim-blaming and minimize the severity of sexual violence. Nisa Cáceres effectively situates these myths within the broader context of classical literature, highlighting how ancient texts often normalized and legitimized sexual violence. By doing so, a compelling framework for considering how contemporary rewritings seek to dismantle these harmful narratives is provided. The analysis of Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls is particularly illuminating. Nisa Cáceres discusses how Barker foregrounds the experiences of Briseis and other Trojan women, who are depicted not merely as victims but as individuals with agency and resilience. This shift in perspective is crucial for challenging the dehumanizing portrayal of women in classical texts and for emphasizing their humanity and dignity. Barker's narrative exposes the intersectionality of sexual violence, showing how women from all social backgrounds suffer under patriarchal oppression. Similarly, the article’s discussion of Elizabeth Cook’s Achilles sheds light on how Cook reinterprets the character of Helen and other mythological figures to critique the systemic nature of sexual violence. By portraying Helen’s rape and subsequent objectification, Cook invites readers to reconsider the long-held assumptions about her culpability and agency. This narrative strategy not only humanizes Helen but also critiques the cultural and literary traditions that have historically silenced and misrepresented her story. In examining Natalie Haynes’ Stone Blind and Jennifer Saint’s Ariadne, Nisa Cáceres evinces how these authors reclaim the stories of Medusa and other female characters, presenting them as figures of strength and resilience. Haynes’ portrayal of Medusa, in particular, challenges the traditional monster narrative by revealing the injustices she endured and her victimization by the gods. This reimagining serves to debunk the myth that victims of sexual violence are to blame for their suffering and instead emphasizes the importance of understanding and empathy. The paper also addresses the broader implications of these contemporary rewritings for feminist theory and cultural critique. By aligning their creative works with feminist and gender theory, these authors not only challenge androcentric representations of rape but also promote a culture of consent. This alignment underscores the transformative potential of literature to change cultural attitudes towards sexual violence and to advocate for a more just and equitable society. Largely, "Rape Culture and Consent in Contemporary Anglophone Women’s Rewritings of the Classical Tradition" is a vibrant contribution to this volume, as Nisa Cáceres' article provides a methodical examination of how modern women authors use classical myths to address and subvert rape culture. By foregrounding the voices and experiences of marginalized characters, these rewritings offer powerful critiques of historical and contemporary attitudes towards sexual violence, thereby fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of the complexities of consent and agency.