From “Flowery Tales” to “Heroic Rapes”: Virginal Subjectivity in the Mythological Meadow

This paper extends the “third-wave” feminist goal of looking for female agency in unexpected places to the female construction of desire in the abduction meadow. It argues that the meadow is an erotically charged space because of the perceived “pluckability” of its inhabitants and because of their erotic play. It explores how, rather than being determined by the male intruders, the meadow’s eroticism is actively produced by the girls themselves. There is a particular focus upon the construction of virginal subjectivity in the experiences of two of the females: Europa and Persephone.