Marked by Violence: Bodily Autonomy and Sexual Politics in Titus Andronicus, Written on the Body and Parable of the Sower

Abstract

This essay examines the intersection between violence and sexuality in William Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, Jeanette Winterson's Written on the Body and Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower, interrogating the implications it has for women's bodily autonomy across temporal and literary boundaries. It argues the two are intrinsically linked and both romantic and non-romantic relationships are shaped by domination and violation. It underlines the consistent objectifcation and dehumanisation of women's bodies and identities through examining themes such as cannibalism, lust-driven relationships and the treatment of victims of sexual violence. This essay ultimately contends that an examination of Titus Andronicus and Parable of the Sower alongside Written on the Body forces a reader to confront the pervasive and systematic romanticisation of violence within sex, normalised due to the familiarity of Written on the Body's setting.