The Rape of Lucretia and the Founding of Republics

The Rape of Lucretia and the Founding of Republics: Readings in Livy, Machiavelli, and Rousseau [Paperback]
Melissa M. Matthes (Author)

Paperback: 188 pages
Publisher: Pennsylvania State Univ Pr (Txt) (February 1, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0271020555
ISBN-13: 978-0271020556

Review:
This book investigates the various and often surprising use by political thinkers of the story about the rape of Lucretia and its role in the founding of the Roman republic. This turns out to be a rich theme in the history of republican political thought, one that Matthes explores with enthusiasm and insight. The book should be of interest not only to students of the history of political thought but also to students of the representation of women in political and dramatic literature. --Bernard Yack, University of Wisconsin

This book makes an important contribution to republican theorizing and will be of interest to political theorists in general, and to those working in the republican and feminist traditions in particular. [It is well written, integrates fresh texts with more familiar material, and provides a new prism through which to examine issues such as the origins of civic attachment and the meaning of citizenship.] --Bruce Smith, Allegheny College

What is the relationship between storytelling and politics? To answer this question is to grapple with the political significance of narrative, as both a practice and product of symbolization. Melissa Matthes' study of how the story of the rape of Lucretia figures in the republican tradition offers a powerful response to this question, and in the process helpfully elucidates narrative s political efforts.

By showing how narratives of femininity and masculinity simultaneously thread through and give form to republics, the book makes a compelling case for storytelling as itself a form of politics. --Elizabeth Wingrove, Journal of Politics --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description:
An effort to interpret republican political theory and bring it into engagement with feminism through a reexamination of one of its own founding myths.

"This book investigates the various and often surprising use by political thinkers of the story about the rape of Lucretia and its role in the founding of the Roman republic. This turns out to be a rich theme in the history of republican political thought, one that Matthes explores with enthusiasm and insight. The book should be of interest not only to students of the history of political thought but also to students of the representation of women in political and dramatic literature."