‘Lukretia geschonden zach geen wraak, ik al’: Juliane als Lucretia en Medea in Geeraardt Brandts De Veinzende Torquatus (1645)

Abstract

Scholarship of early modern revenge tragedies has in recent years increasingly focussed on the interplay of revenge and sexual violence. This article explores this interplay in one such revenge tragedy, Geeraardt Brandt’s early modern Dutch The Feigning Torquatus (De Veinzende Torquatus, 1645), through a study of the mythological subtext. The character Juliane, who is raped on stage and later avenges herself on her rapist, is connected textually and subtextually to the mythological topoi of Lucretia and the vengeful woman. I argue that these topoi elevate Juliane’s revenge from private revenge to public justice, and finally to divine retribution. This case study contributes to the growing scholarship into gendered revenge in the early modern period.