Why the f--- am I writing about Lucretia?

a) because she is raped.
b) because her rape is a symbolic rape of Rome (or so it has been argued). Either it is traumatic for Rome, or it acts as a harbinger of future trauma. In either case, it allows the Roman state to throw off the boundaries of its occupiers.

As such, the rape of Lucretia occurs at the nexus of both the public and the private, and thus the nexus of both structural and historical trauma (DeCapra?).

Also, focusing on the figure of Lucretia is important because Lucretia is canonical. Lucretia is therefore a sounder topic, from a strategic point of view, than, say, the virgin martyrs.


How the !@#$%^& am I going to write about this in 4 pages?!? I can barely spell the title of this paper in 4 pages. There is so much necessary background knowledge for people! Hello, hello, hello!