Wednesday, October 22, 2008

"Raptus"

According to Professor Little, raptus means “bride theft.” Raptus represents the notion that once the a male rapes or kidnaps a woman he must marry her. During Shakespeare’s time, essentially couples could marry even if there was objection from the woman’s relatives for all the couple had to do was to consummate the marriage. Often, a man would kidnap a woman, have sex with her, and they would be together. The idea of raptus also worked against a man for if he raped a woman, as punishment he was forced to marry her. A woman’s well being was often undermined by the need to punish the man.

In Othello, Iago gives Brabantio hints that Othello stole Desdemona and is in the process of consummating the marriage even as Iago speaks. Although it seems rather unclear whether Othello and Desdemona have consummated the marriage by the time Iago flags Brabantio, the idea of raptus perpetuates throughout the play as the plot unfolds.

Ignacio Rodriguez
TA: Aaron Gorelik
Section: 1F

No comments: