Author: -

Abstract: »This thesis examines the complex and conflicting arguments surrounding'the crime of rape in Early Modern England and how the important literary texts, Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadias, explore this issue of rape. Of the three Arcadia texts that exist today, the 1580 Arcadia, also known as the Old Arcadia, has received the most scrutiny on this subject, whereas the latter and more influential texts, the 1590 and the conflated 1593 edition of the Arcadia, have been largely ignored.
Some theorists argue that Sidney's Old Arcadia reinforces the period's systematic use of sexual violence toward women through its use of violent rhetoric and ambiguous treatment of rape and seduction. However true it may be that the Old Arcadia employs the violent' rhetoric conventional to many literary texts of that period, the Old Arcadia's treatment of rape allows for a variety of interpretations, including a critique of the legal system that murkily defined rape. In contrast, the 1590 and the 1593 conflated edition of the Arcadia clearly distinguish between rape and seduction, and offer a systematic critique of the system that sanctioned sexual violence toward women, giving credence to Christine Rose's argument that a representation of rape by a male author does not guarantee an approval of rape.« (Source: Thesis)

Contents:

	Abstract (p. iii)
	Acknowledgements (p. v)
	Chapter One: Investigating Rape in Western Culture (p. 1)
		Introduction (p. 1)
		History of Rape in Western Culture (p. 3)
		Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadias (p. 25)
	Chapter Two: Seduction, Marriage, and Rape in the Old Arcadia (p. 32)
	Chapter Three: "Is It The Styl of a Captive To Write 'Our Will and Pleasure?'": Rape in Sidney's New Arcadia (p.61)
	Works Cited (p. 92)
	Works Consulted (p. 96)

Wikipedia: History of Europe: History of England / Elizabethan era | Literature: English literature / Philip Sidney | Literature: Novels about rape / The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia | Sex and the law: Rape / History of rape