Contact
+ Contact Form
Search
+ Search Form
Introduction
+ Aims & Scope
+ Structure
+ History
Announcements
+ Updates
+ Calls for Papers
+ New Lectures
+ New Publications
Alphabetical Index
+ Author Index
+ Speaker Index
Chronological Index
+ Ancient History
+ Medieval History
+ Modern History
Geographical Index
+ African History
+ American History
+ Asian History
+ European History
+ Oceanian History
Topical Index
+ Prosecution
+ Cases
+ Types
+ Offenders
+ Victims
+ Society
+ Research
+ Representations
Resources
+ Institutions
+ Literature Search
+ Research
|
Start:
Alphabetical Index:
Author Index:
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z |
Unknown
First published: October 1, 2025 - Last updated: October 1, 2025
TITLE INFORMATION
Author: Nina Elisabeth Cook
Title: “A most wicked jest”
Subtitle: Titillation, Rape Jokes, and the Ethics of Laughter in Pamela
Journal: Studies in the Novel
Volume: 57
Issue: 3
Year: Fall 2025
Pages: 257-273
pISSN: 0039-3827 -
Find a Library: WorldCat |
eISSN: 1934-1512 -
Find a Library: WorldCat
Language: English
Keywords:
Modern History:
18th Century |
Europen History:
English History |
Types:
Rape;
Society:
Rape Culture /
Rape Jokes;
Representations:
Literary Text /
Samuel Richardson
FULL TEXT
Link:
Project MUSE (Restricted Access)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Author:
Nina Elisabeth Cook,
Program in Writing and Communication,
Rice University -
Abstract:
»This article examines Samuel Richardson’s use of the joke as a structuring principle in Pamela. Long recognized as a “comedy” in the traditional sense of the word—a genre ending in marriage—I argue that the novel’s frequent scenes of near-rape and sexual coercion can be read as “jokes,” structurally aligned through their use of comedic reversal with the category of the rape joke. I interrogate Richardson’s use of the joke structure, attempting to identify what the ethical implications of such structurally induced laughter might be. At core, I seek to introduce a novel way of reading texts through the structural lens of the joke and to show how Pamela functions in gist as a “wicked jest,” both tantalizing and teasing its reader into an ethically problematic response.«
(Source: Studies in the Novel)
Wikipedia:
History of Europe:
History of England /
History of England |
Feminism:
Feminist terminology /
Rape culture |
Literature:
English literature /
Samuel Richardson |
Literature:
Fiction about rape /
Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded |
Sex and the law:
Rape /
Rape in England
|