[Hardy-l] Re: Thoughts on 'Tess'

[Charles.Anesi at wellsfargo.com]

> making over-confident absolute claims about 
> things on which a text chooses to be silent 
> is usually a reductive business.

I don't interpret the Bible or the Bhagavad Gita literally and look to
learned commentary to understand their purport.  Few would argue that
when the KJV says that Ruth found Boaz sleeping (drunk) and "uncovered
his feet" (a literal translation of the Hebrew), we must assume that for
some incomprehensible reason she just pulled a blanket off his feet.
This is of course not the usual interpretation, which makes reference to
Ruth's ancestress, the first-born daughter of Lot, who lay with her
father when he was drunk (and unconscious) and thus conceived Moab. For
me the important question is not the bare wording of the text, but
whether Hardy's elliptical treatment of the scene would have been
interpreted by reasonable contemporary readers as a clear depiction of
non-consensual sex.         


Chuck Anesi
charles.anesi at wellsfargo.com
office 480-575-3478
cell 612-940-3345
fax 480-575-3519
 
** These opinions are strictly my own and not necessarily those of Wells
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