Jane D. Chaplin
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199558681
- eISBN:
- 9780191720888
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199558681.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter explores why Livy chose to shape Scipio Africanus' encounter with the Spanish maiden in Book 26 as a positive variant on the Lucretia narrative. Where the rape of Lucretia triggers the ...
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This chapter explores why Livy chose to shape Scipio Africanus' encounter with the Spanish maiden in Book 26 as a positive variant on the Lucretia narrative. Where the rape of Lucretia triggers the overthrow of the monarchy, Scipio's restrained behaviour towards the Spanish maiden leads to local alliances and military support. Comparison with Polybius illuminates Livy's emphasis on the connection between abstinence and diplomatic success. Further, the revisiting and amplification of the episode when Scipio rebukes Masinissa for trying to protect Sophoniba show the centrality of this theme to Livy's conception of Scipio. The chapter then uses the trials of the Scipios to consider the similarities and differences between Scipio and 1st-century warlords, and argues that Scipio's failure to capitalize on his extra-constitutional status distinguishes him from Marius, Sulla, Pompey, and Caesar, and explains his value for a reversal of Lucretia's story.Less
This chapter explores why Livy chose to shape Scipio Africanus' encounter with the Spanish maiden in Book 26 as a positive variant on the Lucretia narrative. Where the rape of Lucretia triggers the overthrow of the monarchy, Scipio's restrained behaviour towards the Spanish maiden leads to local alliances and military support. Comparison with Polybius illuminates Livy's emphasis on the connection between abstinence and diplomatic success. Further, the revisiting and amplification of the episode when Scipio rebukes Masinissa for trying to protect Sophoniba show the centrality of this theme to Livy's conception of Scipio. The chapter then uses the trials of the Scipios to consider the similarities and differences between Scipio and 1st-century warlords, and argues that Scipio's failure to capitalize on his extra-constitutional status distinguishes him from Marius, Sulla, Pompey, and Caesar, and explains his value for a reversal of Lucretia's story.
Peter Mark Keegan
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198154754
- eISBN:
- 9780191715457
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198154754.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter tests the degree to which the Fasti is immersed in and co-opted by the prevailing masculinist culture of its time, and compares interpretations of modern critics examining Ovid’s ...
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This chapter tests the degree to which the Fasti is immersed in and co-opted by the prevailing masculinist culture of its time, and compares interpretations of modern critics examining Ovid’s (re)presentations of women. It finds some colluding with the poet’s conservative phallocentric imperatives on ritual(ized) female activity. It contends that the ways by which Ovid engages in negating, inhibiting, silencing, or slaying women are reflected in modern interpretative practices, and notes the operation of an intertextuality between the criticized and the critic. It offers a reading of Ovid’s Regifugium and the rape of Lucretia as a suggested methodology for an interpretation sensitive to sexual(ized) nuances in the Fasti and a way of delimiting and abnegating the perpetuation of the Philomela/Tacita syndrome in contemporary literary-critical and histori(ographi)cal practices.Less
This chapter tests the degree to which the Fasti is immersed in and co-opted by the prevailing masculinist culture of its time, and compares interpretations of modern critics examining Ovid’s (re)presentations of women. It finds some colluding with the poet’s conservative phallocentric imperatives on ritual(ized) female activity. It contends that the ways by which Ovid engages in negating, inhibiting, silencing, or slaying women are reflected in modern interpretative practices, and notes the operation of an intertextuality between the criticized and the critic. It offers a reading of Ovid’s Regifugium and the rape of Lucretia as a suggested methodology for an interpretation sensitive to sexual(ized) nuances in the Fasti and a way of delimiting and abnegating the perpetuation of the Philomela/Tacita syndrome in contemporary literary-critical and histori(ographi)cal practices.
Lisa Pace Vetter
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781479853342
- eISBN:
- 9781479867752
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479853342.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Frances Wright (1795–1852), Harriet Martineau (1802–1876), Angelina Grimké (1805–1879), Sarah Grimké (1792–1873), Lucretia Mott (1793–1880), Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902), and Sojourner Truth ...
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Frances Wright (1795–1852), Harriet Martineau (1802–1876), Angelina Grimké (1805–1879), Sarah Grimké (1792–1873), Lucretia Mott (1793–1880), Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902), and Sojourner Truth (ca. 1797–1883). These seven women were on the front lines fighting for two of the most important causes in American history: abolitionism and expanding women’s rights. The Jacksonian era in which they lived fundamentally challenged the American project. The potential enfranchisement of marginalized populations—especially women and enslaved persons—led to confrontations over the foundational principles of America. These women are well known to historians, scholars of literature, and others. In comparison, from the perspective of political theory, our understanding of the early women’s rights movement and abolitionism, pivotal developments in American political thought, is still relatively limited. In spite of its openness to nontraditional theorists—the Founders and Abraham Lincoln, for example—American political thought does not extend the same recognition to many abolitionists and early women’s rights advocates. This book examines the works of these seven influential women to show that they offer significant theoretical insights into the founding principles of equality, freedom, citizenship, representation, deliberation, religious toleration, and constitutional reform. Their efforts served as a “civic founding” that laid the groundwork not only for women’s suffrage and the abolition of slavery but also for the broader expansion of civil, political, and human rights that would characterize much of the twentieth century and continues to unfold today.Less
Frances Wright (1795–1852), Harriet Martineau (1802–1876), Angelina Grimké (1805–1879), Sarah Grimké (1792–1873), Lucretia Mott (1793–1880), Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902), and Sojourner Truth (ca. 1797–1883). These seven women were on the front lines fighting for two of the most important causes in American history: abolitionism and expanding women’s rights. The Jacksonian era in which they lived fundamentally challenged the American project. The potential enfranchisement of marginalized populations—especially women and enslaved persons—led to confrontations over the foundational principles of America. These women are well known to historians, scholars of literature, and others. In comparison, from the perspective of political theory, our understanding of the early women’s rights movement and abolitionism, pivotal developments in American political thought, is still relatively limited. In spite of its openness to nontraditional theorists—the Founders and Abraham Lincoln, for example—American political thought does not extend the same recognition to many abolitionists and early women’s rights advocates. This book examines the works of these seven influential women to show that they offer significant theoretical insights into the founding principles of equality, freedom, citizenship, representation, deliberation, religious toleration, and constitutional reform. Their efforts served as a “civic founding” that laid the groundwork not only for women’s suffrage and the abolition of slavery but also for the broader expansion of civil, political, and human rights that would characterize much of the twentieth century and continues to unfold today.
Helen Small
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198184911
- eISBN:
- 9780191674396
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198184911.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
Bulwer–Lytton's Lucretia is the grim story of a woman's downward spiral from immorality into insanity. Lucretia Clavering, a clever but corrupt English girl, is disinherited by her uncle when he is ...
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Bulwer–Lytton's Lucretia is the grim story of a woman's downward spiral from immorality into insanity. Lucretia Clavering, a clever but corrupt English girl, is disinherited by her uncle when he is alerted to her unfilial behaviour. At the same time she is rejected by the man she loves. The dual reflection scars her, emotionally and morally, for life. In Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, the instability of the madwoman's meaning for mid-nineteenth-century English fiction is more firmly held in view and turned to effect. For Charlotte Brontë, identity consists in mastering the past, acknowledging it as part of one's history, but a history whose meaning is under control. Though it will always leave its scars, the wounds eventually heal. Brontë's rewriting of Romantic insanity has all the confidence and yet all the anxiety of the mid-Victorian period.Less
Bulwer–Lytton's Lucretia is the grim story of a woman's downward spiral from immorality into insanity. Lucretia Clavering, a clever but corrupt English girl, is disinherited by her uncle when he is alerted to her unfilial behaviour. At the same time she is rejected by the man she loves. The dual reflection scars her, emotionally and morally, for life. In Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, the instability of the madwoman's meaning for mid-nineteenth-century English fiction is more firmly held in view and turned to effect. For Charlotte Brontë, identity consists in mastering the past, acknowledging it as part of one's history, but a history whose meaning is under control. Though it will always leave its scars, the wounds eventually heal. Brontë's rewriting of Romantic insanity has all the confidence and yet all the anxiety of the mid-Victorian period.
Nigel Mortimer
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199275014
- eISBN:
- 9780191705939
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199275014.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This chapter re-examines the notion of Lydgate as a ‘prince-pleaser’ laureate of the Lancastrian dynasty, exploring the involvement of his patron, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester and brother of Henry V, ...
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This chapter re-examines the notion of Lydgate as a ‘prince-pleaser’ laureate of the Lancastrian dynasty, exploring the involvement of his patron, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester and brother of Henry V, in the composition of the Fall. Humphrey's personal political ambitions and his conflicts with the conciliar rule of magnates during the minority of Henry VI are discussed. Consideration is given to Lydgate's substantial additions to the poem, in particular his inclusion of moralizing ‘envoy’ passages after narratives (which sharpen the advisory value of the poem) and an account of the rape of Lucretia (which draws on a prose version by the influential Florentine humanist Coluccio Salutati). Lydgate's only prose work, Serpent of Division, traces the Roman Civil Wars, the collapse of the late Roman Republic, and the final years of the life of Julius Caesar; Lydgate manipulates both this text and Roman narratives in the Fall in order to voice political advice.Less
This chapter re-examines the notion of Lydgate as a ‘prince-pleaser’ laureate of the Lancastrian dynasty, exploring the involvement of his patron, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester and brother of Henry V, in the composition of the Fall. Humphrey's personal political ambitions and his conflicts with the conciliar rule of magnates during the minority of Henry VI are discussed. Consideration is given to Lydgate's substantial additions to the poem, in particular his inclusion of moralizing ‘envoy’ passages after narratives (which sharpen the advisory value of the poem) and an account of the rape of Lucretia (which draws on a prose version by the influential Florentine humanist Coluccio Salutati). Lydgate's only prose work, Serpent of Division, traces the Roman Civil Wars, the collapse of the late Roman Republic, and the final years of the life of Julius Caesar; Lydgate manipulates both this text and Roman narratives in the Fall in order to voice political advice.
Philip Brett
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520246096
- eISBN:
- 9780520939127
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520246096.003.0004
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
One of the sure tests of a composer's stature is how Grimes reacts to success. The furore over Peter Grimes both at home and abroad after its premiere in 1945 was possibly more remarkable than that ...
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One of the sure tests of a composer's stature is how Grimes reacts to success. The furore over Peter Grimes both at home and abroad after its premiere in 1945 was possibly more remarkable than that accorded any other opera this century. Grimes was a success from the start, and the sort of success that might have tempted a lesser composer to continue in the same vein. The Rape of Lucretia, first performed a little more than a year after Grimes, represents a radical departure from the earlier work in more ways than one. The chamber proportions and scoring of Lucretia can of course be explained by practical considerations, which were always a creative challenge for Britten. Indeed, it led to the withdrawal of Peter Grimes from the repertory after a surprisingly small number of performances.Less
One of the sure tests of a composer's stature is how Grimes reacts to success. The furore over Peter Grimes both at home and abroad after its premiere in 1945 was possibly more remarkable than that accorded any other opera this century. Grimes was a success from the start, and the sort of success that might have tempted a lesser composer to continue in the same vein. The Rape of Lucretia, first performed a little more than a year after Grimes, represents a radical departure from the earlier work in more ways than one. The chamber proportions and scoring of Lucretia can of course be explained by practical considerations, which were always a creative challenge for Britten. Indeed, it led to the withdrawal of Peter Grimes from the repertory after a surprisingly small number of performances.
Anise K. Strong (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781474407847
- eISBN:
- 9781474430982
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474407847.003.0009
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, World History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter looks closely at the dominant female character of the first three seasons of the series—Lucretia, the wife of the gladiatorial ludus master Batiatus. It maintains that Lucretia's sexual ...
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This chapter looks closely at the dominant female character of the first three seasons of the series—Lucretia, the wife of the gladiatorial ludus master Batiatus. It maintains that Lucretia's sexual choices and, in particular, her relationship to the act of rape as portrayed in the series present an ongoing reflection on the depiction of rape in modern historical fiction to assert power and to demean women. As the chapter argues, the question of rape in Spartacus is fraught with issues of power and its abuse, and it exposes how the series creators make a significant and meaningful distinction between implicit rape, which is depicted non-violently and often performed silently by extras, and the violent, explicitly abusive rape of named characters.Less
This chapter looks closely at the dominant female character of the first three seasons of the series—Lucretia, the wife of the gladiatorial ludus master Batiatus. It maintains that Lucretia's sexual choices and, in particular, her relationship to the act of rape as portrayed in the series present an ongoing reflection on the depiction of rape in modern historical fiction to assert power and to demean women. As the chapter argues, the question of rape in Spartacus is fraught with issues of power and its abuse, and it exposes how the series creators make a significant and meaningful distinction between implicit rape, which is depicted non-violently and often performed silently by extras, and the violent, explicitly abusive rape of named characters.
Jane Stabler
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199590247
- eISBN:
- 9780191766411
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199590247.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism, European Literature
Chapter 2 examines the twinning of literary and historical figures to shape voluntary and involuntary kinships within exile. Framed by the scandals of Caroline of Brunswick and Lucretia Borgia, the ...
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Chapter 2 examines the twinning of literary and historical figures to shape voluntary and involuntary kinships within exile. Framed by the scandals of Caroline of Brunswick and Lucretia Borgia, the chapter explores the Pisan circle’s expulsion from, and rejection of, English domestic mores. Comparing the travel writing of Anna Jameson, Fanny Kemble, and Lady Blessington, the chapter discusses the way in which Italy becomes the catalyst and backdrop for a succession of English women’s realizations of marital disillusionment in 19th-century literature. The chapter examines the role of the letter and the verse epistle in exiled writing and discusses the work of Walter Savage Landor, particularly his Imaginary Conversations to explore the idea of the trans-historical community of authors in exile. The importance of the book as material object comes under scrutinyLess
Chapter 2 examines the twinning of literary and historical figures to shape voluntary and involuntary kinships within exile. Framed by the scandals of Caroline of Brunswick and Lucretia Borgia, the chapter explores the Pisan circle’s expulsion from, and rejection of, English domestic mores. Comparing the travel writing of Anna Jameson, Fanny Kemble, and Lady Blessington, the chapter discusses the way in which Italy becomes the catalyst and backdrop for a succession of English women’s realizations of marital disillusionment in 19th-century literature. The chapter examines the role of the letter and the verse epistle in exiled writing and discusses the work of Walter Savage Landor, particularly his Imaginary Conversations to explore the idea of the trans-historical community of authors in exile. The importance of the book as material object comes under scrutiny
Philip Rupprecht (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199794805
- eISBN:
- 9780199345243
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199794805.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
This book offers a fresh portrait of one of the most widely performed composers of the twentieth century. This book explores a significant portion of Benjamin Britten's extensive oeuvre across a ...
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This book offers a fresh portrait of one of the most widely performed composers of the twentieth century. This book explores a significant portion of Benjamin Britten's extensive oeuvre across a range of genres, including opera, song cycle, and concert music. Well informed by earlier writings on the composer's professional career and private life, this book also uncovers many fresh lines of inquiry, from the Lord Chamberlain's last-minute censorship of the Rape of Lucretia libretto to psychoanalytic understandings of Britten's staging of gender roles; from the composer's delight in schoolboy humor to his operatic revival of Purcellian dance rhythms; from his creative responses to Cold-War-era internationalism to his dealings with BBC Television. Each chapter blends awareness of overarching contexts with insights into particular expressive achievements.Less
This book offers a fresh portrait of one of the most widely performed composers of the twentieth century. This book explores a significant portion of Benjamin Britten's extensive oeuvre across a range of genres, including opera, song cycle, and concert music. Well informed by earlier writings on the composer's professional career and private life, this book also uncovers many fresh lines of inquiry, from the Lord Chamberlain's last-minute censorship of the Rape of Lucretia libretto to psychoanalytic understandings of Britten's staging of gender roles; from the composer's delight in schoolboy humor to his operatic revival of Purcellian dance rhythms; from his creative responses to Cold-War-era internationalism to his dealings with BBC Television. Each chapter blends awareness of overarching contexts with insights into particular expressive achievements.
Steven B. Smith
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780300198393
- eISBN:
- 9780300220988
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300198393.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Machiavelli is often described as the founder of modernity for his claim to have discovered a new kind of politics. Yet what is most characteristic of the great Florentine was his creation of a new ...
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Machiavelli is often described as the founder of modernity for his claim to have discovered a new kind of politics. Yet what is most characteristic of the great Florentine was his creation of a new “protean” image of human nature as infinitely malleable and adaptive to new and changing circumstances. This concept of free individuality is given vivid expression in Machiavelli’s play Mandragola, a satire on family life in which he applies the same methods of innovation, novelty, and audacity to private life as he does to the founding of states. Despite the play’s seemingly innocuous exterior, it presents the overthrow of the traditional family and the creation of a new domestic order. The play represents nothing less than the founding of Machiavelli’s new family values.Less
Machiavelli is often described as the founder of modernity for his claim to have discovered a new kind of politics. Yet what is most characteristic of the great Florentine was his creation of a new “protean” image of human nature as infinitely malleable and adaptive to new and changing circumstances. This concept of free individuality is given vivid expression in Machiavelli’s play Mandragola, a satire on family life in which he applies the same methods of innovation, novelty, and audacity to private life as he does to the founding of states. Despite the play’s seemingly innocuous exterior, it presents the overthrow of the traditional family and the creation of a new domestic order. The play represents nothing less than the founding of Machiavelli’s new family values.
