De Amore, Game of Thrones , and Imagining Violence in the Twelfth and Twenty-First Centuries

Abstract: Readers often consider modernity as distinct from the medieval past. This article rejects a clear 'break' between the two eras and considers similarities in how medieval and modern texts imagine sexual violence. Using Capellanus' De Amore and Game of Thrones , this article argues that both works invite the audience to observe and potentially enjoy depictions of sexual violence but rely on the fantasy that such violence is 'contained' in a fully fictional world. Nonetheless, the article asks whether such containment is truly possible. (EL)