SUMMERS, KAREN CRADY, Ph.D. Reading Incest - The University ...

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3 scholarly view on the ways that the Gothic uses sexual matters to both uphold and subvert patriarchy. In her study of Gothic elements, The Coherence of Gothic Conventions (1986), Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick concludes that the Gothic novel (almost) always includes the possibility of incest, a subject taken up by Ruth Perry in her essay “Incest as Meaning in the Gothic Novel” (1998) in which she argues that as the family unit became more “nuclear” in form sexual danger increased, with incest disruptive of family building and by extension, of societal growth. These scholarly works do much to elucidate theories on the enduring popularity of incest in literary works of different eras. But I argue that reading incest is best done through a comprehenisve approach; that is, by acknowledging the impact that the accumulation of earlier readings has on later ones. Reading incest in texts of any one era, along with their specific social and cultural contexts, impacts subsequent readings in part because of the malleability of the definition of the term. In comparing the six selected texts, it will quickly become apparent that incest is a useful literary tool for writers and dramatists to exploit the many different social tensions, problems, and anxieties of their ages. I trace these anxieties and their literary manifestations through the medieval and early modern eras, culminating with Gothic literature, with its conventions of reviving medieval institutions and appropriating medieval symbols and themes. The anxieties and contradictions of any one era often remain unresolved and are compounded as newly arising tensions emerge. Before turning to the texts themselves, it is necessary to trace the development of the problem of incest. Incest tales, in some form, exist in all cultures. Medieval thought
4 about incest was influenced by the Greco-Roman heritage and by Biblical law; tales of incest are both explicit in and inferred from the Bible, yet a paradox may be seen at once. The book of Leviticus painstakingly enumerates the degrees to which sexual relationships were forbidden. This included relationships by marriage, yet Mosaic law stipulated that a man marry his dead brother’s widow. Amnon was put to death for sleeping with his sister Tamar, yet no mention is made of punishment in the story of Lot’s incestuous relations with his daughters. The two chapters of Leviticus dealing with incest have influenced Western law for centuries. Chapters 18 and 20 specify sexual relations forbidden to the Israelites if they wish to maintain the covenantal relationship with God: father, mother, father’s wife, sister, half-sister, niece, granddaughter, step-sister, paternal aunt, maternal aunt, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, a woman and her daughter or granddaughter, a wife’s sister, or a neighbor’s wife. 1 At the same time, the books of Genesis and Exodus relate several tales of sexual liaisons between close kin, by the patriarchs who founded a nation. One explanation for this inconsistency is that the rules changed to meet evolving needs; what was acceptable in an earlier age is no longer permissible. Carmichael believes that the verses in Leviticus were carefully ordered to address this problem: the lawgivers “formulated Biblical laws in response to biblical narratives” (Carmichael 9). Instead of a reaction to contemporaneous issues that arose, the lawgivers responded to problematic issues in history. Thus, the first prohibition in Leviticus 18—uncovering the nakedness of a father or a mother—is in response to the 1 See Calum M. Carmichael, Law, Legend, and Incest in the Bible: Leviticus 18-20, for an in-depth analysis. He argues that biblical interpreters throughout the centuries have been unaware of how the Levitical rules came to be formulated in the first place.
Page 1 and 2: SUMMERS, KAREN CRADY, Ph.D. Reading
Page 3 and 4: READING INCEST: TYRANNY, SUBVERSION
Page 5 and 6: APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation has
Page 7 and 8: TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. R
Page 9: 2 of it, despite its familiarity to
Page 13 and 14: 6 clarification. Pope Gregory II ad
Page 15 and 16: 8 sibling, and mother-son. 2 She no
Page 17 and 18: 10 is viewed by both. Incest in eig
Page 19 and 20: 12 subverts both the social and the
Page 21 and 22: 14 CHAPTER II ‘SWICHE UNKYNDE ABH
Page 23 and 24: 16 a book to each of the seven dead
Page 25 and 26: 18 Richard” (111). The dedication
Page 27 and 28: 20 an idea familiar to Gower’s me
Page 29 and 30: 22 laboring-folk and Piers, in retu
Page 31 and 32: 24 introduction of Amans, the unsuc
Page 33 and 34: 26 learns. Augustine takes up the i
Page 35 and 36: 28 of the king, whose primary duty
Page 37 and 38: 30 bribed two priests to convince P
Page 39 and 40: 32 story of incest implied, averted
Page 41 and 42: 34 Again, her response impassions h
Page 43 and 44: 36 in the most extreme sense. When
Page 45 and 46: 38 in the first book, and relates t
Page 47 and 48: 40 benign, sympathetic interpretati
Page 49 and 50: 42 and Machaire, and at the same ti
Page 51 and 52: 44 To finish the turn in the narrat
Page 53 and 54: 46 oghne prest” (V.1382-3). Geniu
Page 55 and 56: 48 incestuous. When she vows to tel
Page 57 and 58: 50 epilogue that acts as a prayer f
Page 59 and 60: 52 Of wommen were absent as thanne;
Page 61 and 62:
54 speak at length and discover the
Page 63 and 64:
56 Biblical incest, mostly unjudged
Page 65 and 66:
58 of a king and the function of la
Page 67 and 68:
60 country. But the incest—the wo
Page 69 and 70:
62 As chivalry is a controlling the
Page 71 and 72:
64 conflicting demands of love and
Page 73 and 74:
66 material for adaptation or trans
Page 75 and 76:
68 four sons, Gawain, Gaheris, Agra
Page 77 and 78:
70 can not be ameliorated, at least
Page 79 and 80:
72 killed save Mordred, who was fou
Page 81 and 82:
74 surrogate son-knights. Cherewatu
Page 83 and 84:
76 Lo ye all Englysshemen, se ye ha
Page 85 and 86:
78 demonstrated to all present on t
Page 87 and 88:
80 corruption that plagues the Pend
Page 89 and 90:
82 CHAPTER III ‘INCEST IS IN ME
Page 91 and 92:
84 wished to rid himself of Anne Bo
Page 93 and 94:
86 societal forces. The plays focus
Page 95 and 96:
88 in the family and on a national
Page 97 and 98:
90 reputation shifted such that vie
Page 99 and 100:
92 comes not from an instinctive ap
Page 101 and 102:
94 virtue, resists and is made whol
Page 103 and 104:
96 willingness to sacrifice the liv
Page 105 and 106:
98 Rejection of God and divine orde
Page 107 and 108:
100 is as an “ungodly sickness”
Page 109 and 110:
102 exercise her own agency. Though
Page 111 and 112:
104 potential problem of having a f
Page 113 and 114:
106 The plots of these three plays
Page 115 and 116:
108 play, the Duchess will have bee
Page 117 and 118:
110 As we have seen, the Duchess us
Page 119 and 120:
112 BOSOLA. It seems you would crea
Page 121 and 122:
114 But as Ferdinand’s outrages i
Page 123 and 124:
116 knife as phallus. Eros (Cupid)
Page 125 and 126:
118 posed by his slide into unreaso
Page 127 and 128:
120 and, as Kenneth Graham notes, i
Page 129 and 130:
122 Castle of Otranto displays the
Page 131 and 132:
124 Theodore is killed a group of k
Page 133 and 134:
126 memory, and regard your highnes
Page 135 and 136:
128 first Gothic playwright, publis
Page 137 and 138:
130 the castle is there primarily t
Page 139 and 140:
132 strength, and the men enter the
Page 141 and 142:
134 God bless me; and pass’d on.
Page 143 and 144:
136 familiar. It is more usual for
Page 145 and 146:
138 sensation of horror in the audi
Page 147 and 148:
140 foil to the Countess, with her
Page 149 and 150:
142 And when he knelt, weeping, to
Page 151 and 152:
144 Castle of Otranto, the knife is
Page 153 and 154:
146 and political realities during
Page 155 and 156:
149 destruction and disaster. One o
Page 157 and 158:
151 subvert both patriarchy and mon
Page 159 and 160:
153 BIBLIOGRAPHY Aers, David,ed. Me
Page 161 and 162:
155 Classen, Albrecht, ed. Violence
Page 163 and 164:
157 Ford, Jane M. Patriarchy and In
Page 165 and 166:
159 Lenz, Joseph. The Promised End:
Page 167 and 168:
161 Riddy, Felicity. Sir Thomas Mal
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