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PARTISAN REVIEW
dling of rape is, however, no worse than its treatment of other forms of
brutality. Moreover, such beast epics are not, even today, found offensive
by most people, and still find avid readers, both male and female .
Chretien de Troyes, the twelfth-century father of Arthurian romance,
is charged in
Ravishing Maidens
with introducing rape into his works so
that men can save women from it:
In addition to coding the feminine as sexually powerful, the rape
scenes in
Erec et Enjde
function as a way of signifying heroism, both
military and moral. Chretien frequently sets up an attempted rape by a
villain as a chivalric test, permitting the male hero to prove his mettle
by interceding to defend the damsel. The brutality of the scenes of
rape are overshadowed by the poet's moralizing and by their socializ–
ing function: they teach the audience that Christian patriarchy
protects noblewomen (and that women urgently need such protec–
tion).
In fact, no woman is ever raped in this work. Yet there is some truth
to the charge: a few damsels are indeed threatened with rape; heroes res–
cue them. One might even say that females are threatened
so that
males
can rescue them. The threats are indeed generally from members of the
lower classes: the aristocracy is glorified. Chretien has been accused of
"exploit[ing] the erotic potential of sexual violence." But there is some–
thing very naive about such a position. To blame authors for introducing
wicked men or customs into their stories is to miss the very essence of the
heroic tradition: without the menace of evil, virtue cannot shine. Nor
does Chretien make inordinate or obsessive use of rape as a danger: his
heroes also rescue women from being burned at the stake, losing their
in–
heritance to an evil sister, and being forced to work in sweatshops; they
even rescue other males. Women come to the aid of men, as well.
"Chretien," we are told, "scarcely considers the meanings and conse–
quences of sexual victimization for women." He is accused of treating
rape as nothing more than property-theft against patriarchy. But in one of
the few passages in Chretien's romances where there
is
a clear threat of
rape, the poet gives us a moving glimpse into the feelings of the young
woman in danger:
Then came out of a chamber the young
girl,
noble in body, and with
a beautiful and pleasing face. She came simply, subdued and silent, for
her grief was unending. She kept her head bent toward the ground.
Her mother came by her side. The lord wanted to show them his
