Rape and the Female Subject in Aphra Behn's The Rover

PACHECO, ANITA

doi:10.1353/elh.1998.0013

Cited by 31 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Contemporary readers must be savvy and vigilant as they read The Rover to keep in mind that rape did not mean back then what it means now. Finally, Pacheco (1998) affirms that -before the obligatory happy ending, Florinda faces three attempted rapes that are called not rape, but seduction, retaliation, or ‗ruffling a harlot'; in presuming to make her own sexual choices, she enters a world where the word ‗rape' has no meaning‖ (p. 323). Behn's comedy in this play heavily depends on the fact that rape has a vague meaning to carry out her parody and critique.…”

Section: The Rovermentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Hence, Behn's intention here becomes to show the absurdness of the patriarchal society's judgmental assumptions about women. Pacheco (1998) says that when Willmore encounters Florinda in this scene, he instantly -sees sexual availability written all over this woman. This is a view of Florinda that no amount of resistance on her part is able to dislodge.…”

Section: The Rovermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, no matter what she tells him, and however she tries to get out of his hands, Willmore (or the patriarchal society) will see that she really wants to have sex. As Pacheco understands this scene, Willmore thinks that Florinda is actually open to sex with him, but maybe concerned to preserve her reputation (Pacheco, 1998) and therefore he says: -I'll be very secret. I'll not boast who 'twas obliged me, not I-for hang me if I know thy name‖ (3.5.29-30).…”

Section: The Rovermentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Myth of Rape in Eighteenth-Century Literature

Aldukhayil

2022

WJEL

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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 to encourage women to follow the mandates expected of women of quality. These three text are evidence that rape was commonly discussed as a method to warn women to keep out of public space prior to the nineteenth century.

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Section: The Rovermentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: The Rovermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Rovermentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Myth of Rape in Eighteenth-Century Literature

Aldukhayil

2022

WJEL

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“…Hughes (2004, 39) in his discussion of Behn's dramatic oeuvre speaks of "the perilous wide spaces of the public world." Indeed, it might be argued that Florinda in The Rover, by leaving the patriarchal protection of the house to find the man she loves, runs the danger of rape, because she is twice mistaken for a prostitute-and molesting a prostitute was not considered a crime (Pacheco 1998). 7 However, her self-confident, witty sister Hellena, who ventures out during the Naples carnival disguised as a gipsy, is in no danger of molestation.…”

Section: The Public Spacementioning

confidence: 99%

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2018

Sederi

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This paper examines one aspect of the two-way cultural traffic between London and Padua: how the city of Padua figured in debates about the nature of masculinity in early modern London, especially its theatres. Invariably known primarily for its university-noted by Coryat and Moryson, a tourist attraction for Chaucer, Sidney, and Milton-the name "Padua" became synonymous with "erudition." While learnedness was in theory a positive quality, the place of learnedness in a declining honor culture and its complex role in constituting masculinity remained a contentious subject. English writers by turns envied or scorned the learning acquired in Italy, and invocations of Padua and its link to rapier fencing resulted in a series of contradictory figures in the drama of Shakespeare and Webster: doctors, pedants, enlightened philosophers, lovers, murderers for hire.

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Aphra Behn, The Rover, Part One

PACHECO¹

2008

A Companion to Early Modern Women's Writing

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Rape and the Female Subject in Aphra Behn's The Rover

Cited by 31 publications

References 24 publications

The Myth of Rape in Eighteenth-Century Literature

The Myth of Rape in Eighteenth-Century Literature

Untitled

Aphra Behn, The Rover, Part One

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