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

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

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Added to this is the fear that rising female agency might eventually succeed in<br />

completely undermining the patriarchal and monarchical social structures that were still<br />

believed by many to be divinely ordained. By the mid-eighteenth century, changes in<br />

economic and political systems appeared to threaten the institution of the family, and<br />

incest proved to be a useful metaphor for expressing these anxieties. I conclude that<br />

reading incest across four centuries of literary works reveals that while societal threats<br />

change over time, a common desire to preserve, uphold, and defend patriarchy remains.

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