Utopian corporeality and movement in William Shakespeare's The Rape of Lucrece

Abstract

In his minor epic The Rape of Lucrece, William Shakespeare reconstructs the early Roman myth about the creation of the consulship and adds his own twist to this story of sexual violation. Lucrece is presented as a woman who mobilises her grief and shame and ends up overturning her disadvantageous position in the State. Her bodily movement in the narrative as well as her extended utterances of lamentation provide her with the courage to go against her rapist and transfigure her body into a utopian state, brimming with hope and steadfastness, which is spread throughout the city through her blood and ensures a better future.