“And am I thus Rewarded?” The Rejected Hero and the Raped Heroine in Mary Pix’s Ibrahim

Abstract

Abstract This article assesses Mary Pix’s tragedy Ibrahim (1696) at the transition from traditional heroic drama to pathetic she-tragedy. Considering the coexistence of different ‘heroic modes’ towards the turn of the century, Pix’s tragedy can be placed between Dryden’s heroic drama The Indian Queen (1665; revived 1696) and Manley’s she-tragedy The Royal Mischief (1696). Ibrahim made use of traditional, popular theatre practices such as an oriental set and the incorporation of rape as stage spectacle; yet with the increased presence of women on the Restoration stage, Pix attributed a double function to the raped Morena as a reward for the male hero and as a heroine in her own right, thus mitigating the focus of earlier heroic plays on male heroship.