Sexual Violence in History: A Bibliography

compiled by Stefan Blaschke

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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