This book is intended for those in the humanities seeking a legal context for writing about rape in early modern England. It takes the premise that over the past four decades misunderstandings about rape law, and misreadings of rape statutes from medieval to Elizabethan times, have become widely cited in criticism. Helen Barker identifies how this has arisen, and discusses the main sources of confusion – including indissoluble issues around the word ‘ravishment’. Rape law historically encompassed elopement and abduction; this book offers a succinct overview of the law, and draws attention to the wider social context other than gender opposition in which it is often presented. In addition, critics have been tempted to rely on the ostensibly authoritative seventeenth-century treatise, The Lawes Resolutions of Womens Rights, as a legal source. By examining the context of its publication, this book suggests that the treatise is unreliable and can mislead the unwary.
By:
Helen Barker Imprint: Springer Nature Switzerland AG Country of Publication: Switzerland Edition: 1st ed. 2021 Dimensions:
Height: 210mm,
Width: 148mm,
Weight: 345g ISBN:9783030826086 ISBN 10: 3030826082 Pages: 128 Publication Date:03 November 2021 Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format:Hardback Publisher's Status: Active
1. Critical Context and History.- 2. The Legal Framework.- 3. Statute Law.- 4. The Lawes Resolutions of Womens Rights.- 5. Conclusion.
Helen Barker gained her PhD having studied at the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, UK.