HIstory Paper Rape of Lucretia

Response Paper: Rape of Lucretia The Rape of Lucretia is a legend that was important to the Romans. It was a tragedy about a Roman matron woman who commits suicide. The story is important because it expresses the role of married women in the Roman civilization. It describes what behavior the Romans considered appropriate for a typical Roman wife. From reading this excerpt from the History of Rome, one learns that a women’s worth is based on their virtue, men considered their wives as possessions, and rape enraged the Roman population. Women cherished their honor. They believed that it was their honor and their virtue that proclaimed their worth to men. Before the rape, Lucretia was considered to be an ideal wife. She would be found spinning in the middle of the night helping the slaves, when most wives would be out having fun (LVII). Men thought their wives belonged in the house. After Lucretia was raped she described herself as spoiled. She was ashamed that she was raped by the Prince of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus. She did not want to humiliate herself as well as her husband with her dishonor. She said that she should be punished because of the prince’s actions. Once she was raped, she was no longer the ideal wife, because of her shameful state she took her life. Women believed that if their virtue is taken then they are no longer worth anything to Roman society and in the case of Lucretia death was the only solution. Roman men wanted their wives to show devotion to them. A wife showed her husband devotion by staying in the house. Men did not want their wives to mingle with their friends because it showed they had relationships with other people besides their husbands. The only relationship a husband wanted for his wife was himself. Men believed that they owned and could control their wives. They believed in ownership of the wife because men were the head of the house. Men held the highest power in the house and has the authority over all the members of