http://wjel.sciedupress.com World Journal of English Language Vol. 13, No. 1; 2023 Published by Sciedu Press 77 ISSN 1925-0703 E-ISSN 1925-0711 The Myth of Rape in Eighteenth-Century Literature Zakarya Aldukhayil l 1 Department of English and Translation, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia Correspondence: Zakarya Aldukhayil, Department of English and Translation, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia. Received: October 21, 2022 Accepted: November 21, 2022 Online Published: November 24, 2022 doi:10.5430/wjel.v13n1p77 URL: https://doi.org/10.5430/wjel.v13n1p77 Abstract Rape as propaganda is the main focus of this study. Feminist scholars and activists have investigated rape in English history and discussed how this term was used by men to dominate women and spread fear amongst them. The patriarchal society of the early eighteenth-century England used rape in order to limit the freedom of female movement. Women were led to believe that their state of safety lies within their willingness to trade submission to a man for protection from all other men. This study investigates attitudes of rape and near rape attempts which were used in three seventeenth and eighteenth-century texts; Aphra Behn‘s The Rover (1677), Eliza Haywood‘s The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless (1751), and Frances Burney‘s novel Evelina (1778). These attitudes were presented in order to portray different ideas such as a critique of the patriarchal society, to warn women of the dangers they might face out of the domestic sphere and perks of abiding by the social conduct, and also to encourage women to follow the mandates expected of women of quality. These three text are evidence that rape was commonly discussed as a method to warn women to keep out of public space prior to the nineteenth century. Keywords: eighteenth-century, freedom, public sphere, rape, subjugation 1. Introduction Rape or sexual harassment is a terrifying thought which goes through the minds of many women as they walk alone in dark allies or dangerous neighborhoods. The #MeToo campaign confirms the ongoing struggle of women up to recent days. Feminist scholars and activists such as Susan Brownmiller and Anna Clark have investigated rape in Western history in general and English in specific and discussed how this term was used by men to dominate women and spread fear amongst them. Anna Clark (1987) claims in Women’s Silence, Men’s Violence: Sexual Assault in England 1770-1845, that the patriarchal society of the early nineteenth century England used rape in order to limit the freedom of female movement (Clark, 1987). Rape became somewhat of a scarecrow used against women to keep them under the control of patriarchy. Women were given the impression, that the consequences of being an independent female might be rape or some sort of sexual harassment. They were led to believe that their state of safety lies within their willingness to trade submission to a man for protection from all other men. However, through statistical records from a number of sources including the Old Bailey and North-east Assize cases, Clark proves that this widely believed claim was not true. Clark presents statistical results showing that rape in England 1770-1845 occurred in domestic space just as much as it did in public space and committed by assailants known to victims more than by strangers. Clark‘s argument uses Susan Brownmiller‘s (1975) groundbreaking book Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape as a theoretical framework for her research. Brownmiller explores the history of rape and discusses violence against women. By providing a sociological analysis of rape in Western culture, Brownmiller claims that rape is not just about lust, but about male control and power over their victims. Her claim that rape is a crime of violence, not sex, is constantly stressed in this book. Brownmiller (1975) asserts that once we accept as basic truth that rape is not a crime of irrational, impulsive, uncontrollable lust, but is a deliberate, hostile, violent act of degradation and possession on the part of a would-be conqueror, designed to intimidate and inspire fear, we must look toward those elements in our culture that promote and propagandize these attitudes. (p. 391) Elements that promote and propagandize rape are items in question here in this study. In the discussions section for example, I noticed that these attitudes are used in three seventeenth and eighteenth-century texts to portray different ideas. In Aphra Behn‘s The Rover (1677), near rape scenes are presented as one source of humor which can serve as a critique of the patriarchal society. Eliza Haywood‘s The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless (1751), discusses near rape attempts on women to warn them of the dangers they might face out of the domestic sphere if they do not follow the social conduct. Finally, Frances Burney‘s novel Evelina (1778), presents the masculine values in the patriarchal society and how oppressive they can be, however, it also encourages women to follow the mandates expected of women. Moreover, Brownmiller argues that from rape stemmed the ―historic burden of [female] protection‖ (1975, pp. 16-17) by her relatives who viewed her as a commodity to be protected rather than a human being. By using Brownmiller‘s analysis and study of rape, Clark believes that during the early nineteenth century, there was great f ocus on the issue of rape and greater concentration on its causes and hence the myth of rape was created to restrict female mobility. ―Myth‖ here does not mean that rape was not real, but that its use in this context was not real. In order to illustrate the meaning of ―myth‖ and ―real‖ for our