... criminality, using a subtle mixture of counter-arguments to successfully flip the early conventions on their heads. Through her (very appropriately named) heroine Violenta, Manley examines the lack of options and loss of power women of the 18th century faced in a unforgivingly patriarchal society that punished them for straying from the societal dictates of modest and chaste femininity. Violenta's fall from a reputed ... " (146). Violenta reiterates the conventional belief of the time: the notion that the value of a woman's life is linked irrevocably to her virginal status, and, that a lo...

• Word Count: 1986
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Graduate