48 pages • 1 hour read
Zofloya
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Themes
Sexual Jealousy and Rivalry Between Women
In Zofloya, Dacre is unusually frank in her depiction of women’s sexual desire; by showing women aggressively pursuing the objects of their desire, she also lays the groundwork for women to view each other as rivals. The depiction of sexual jealousy and rivalry is so encompassing that even mothers and daughters are pitted against one another; Ardolph seduces Laurina even though he might have been expected to desire Victoria (who is younger and unmarried), and Leonardo later creates a love triangle with Signora Zappi and her daughter, Amamia. While Dacre’s depiction of female sexuality reflects agency for her characters, she makes it clear that women having sexual agency is largely destructive. Rather than creating a sense of community or connection, Dacre pits her sexually rapacious women pits female characters against one another to the point that they sometimes kill one another. Megalena demands that Leonardo murder her rival, Theresa, and only retracts this order after feeling assured that he was on the brink of action: “I wanted, after thy cruel dereliction from me, some proof that I was still loved” (129). Most graphically, Victoria imprisons, tortures, and gruesomely kills Lilla because she becomes enraged by Henriquez’s fidelity to his beloved. Victoria blames Lilla for Henriquez’s death by suicide, raging that “twas thee who plunged the sword into his breast” (219).
Victoria’s jealousy towards Lilla is particularly revealing because Lilla is positioned as her complete opposite. When women are presented as rivals in the novel, one of them tends to embody traits associated with the 19th-century ideal of femininity, while the other embodies the antithesis of that ideal. Most of the rivals who threaten Megalena, Victoria, and Signora Zappi are explicitly described as younger, and sometimes as smaller and daintier. The depiction of assertive and confident women is undercut by these women feeling threatened by younger, more passive women (who are often preferred by the male characters). Women’s sexual jealousy is also harmful to the male characters: Leonardo is falsely accused of rape when Signora Zappi learns that he prefers her daughter, and Henriquez is deceived and sexually violated because he adores Lilla and feels distaste towards Victoria. In her novel, Dacre creates a world where some women freely experience desire but can’t reliably satisfy those desires because the male characters continue to prefer women who embody more traditional feminine archetypes. Because of this misalignment, the force of desire becomes a force of perversion and violence.
The Relationship Between Innate Character and External Influence
Dacre uses an artistic form (the novel) to explore moral and philosophical questions, and she is particularly interested in what is often described as the “nature vs nurture” debate. This interest reflects contemporary debates and discussions in the late 18th and early 19th centuries about the degree to which culture, education, and socialization—as opposed to innate or inherited traits—are responsible for human character. Dacre takes a firm stance that while individuals have innate tendencies, they are capable of being shaped by external influences for both good and evil. Even before Laurina breaks up the family unit, Laurina and the Marchese place their children in a precarious situation by overindulging them and failing to see “future evil possible to accrue from the indulgence” (40). However, it is Laurina’s moral downfall (leaving her husband for her lover) that is presented as the source of virtually all future conflict in the plot. Over and over again, the narrator reminds the reader that the trail of murder, destruction, and suffering can all be traced back to the “unfortunate and guilty mother, for longer and more gloomy becomes the register of thy crimes” (136). Victoria blames her mother to the extent that she refuses to forgive her when Laurina is dying, arguing that “tis thou who hast caused my ruin” (246). Laurina is presented as a negative role model: By failing to conform to the 19th-century feminine ideal of a wife and mother, she teaches her children to do as she has done—to pursue their desires without regard for consequences.
Laurina fails in her maternal responsibility to provide a positive external influence for her children; Victoria is also subject to external influence from Zofloya, who actively goads her into violent actions. When Victoria first voices her illicit desire to Zofloya, she is not considering the possibility of murder, and she is somewhat shocked by his suggestion. The implication is that without Zofloya’s influence, Victoria would likely not have resorted to violent actions. Zofloya himself later explains that Victoria’s “loose and evil thoughts first pointed thee out to my keen, my searching view, and attracted me towards thee, in the eager hope of prey” (254). Zofloya (revealing his true identity as Satan) depicts himself as a predator seeking out the likeliest target: the implication is that he would not have bothered to tempt someone of greater integrity, since the odds of success would have been low. Zofloya’s influence does not absolve Victoria of her moral responsibility but it does show that external influences hold a powerful sway over individuals.
Erosion of Moral Integrity Due to Pride and Vanity
Temptation is an overriding motif in Zofloya, and while most characters do eventually succumb to temptation, many are gradually worn down by appeals to their pride and vanity. Temptation is shown to be more insidious because it is not merely the result of characters falling prey to their instincts, and can even occur when individuals perceive themselves as trying to live with integrity. Laurina’s seduction provides the best example of an individual’s integrity being gradually worn down. When she meets Ardolph, she is happily married and is not even immediately attracted to the man who becomes her lover. Ardolph wears down Laurina’s resistance and tempts her into adultery by appealing to her vanity so that “the reigning, the only foible of her nature, whispered to her the brilliant triumph of captivating such a heart as his” (46). Laurina’s seduction provides an important counterpoint to the narrative arcs of the other female characters in the novel; while Victoria, Megalena, and Signora Zappi actively pursue the men they lust after, Laurina gives in to a man who aggressively pursues and manipulates her. This narrative more closely resembles many of the typical “fallen woman” narratives in 18th and 19th century novels, in which an initially virtuous woman is seduced and sometimes deceived. All the wanton behavior that follows—especially from Victoria—is presented as a consequence of this initial fall. Laurina’s apparent virtuousness, prior to the start of her affair with Ardolph, is crucial to the novel’s understanding of sexual morality: It implies that a single moral failing—in this case, the sin of pride—can open the door to wholesale corruption.
Berenza is also seduced (and to some extent deceived) at the start of his relationship with Victoria, reflecting Dacre’s interest in inverting gender norms. Berenza is presented as a somewhat cool and analytical individual; he regards Laurina and Ardolph with “contempt and dislike” (58) because of what he perceives as their reckless behavior. Berenza is torn between his attraction to Victoria and his accurate understanding of her character; Berenza recognizes that Victoria is tempestuous and undisciplined, and this makes him hesitate to begin a relationship with her. However, he falls prey to Victoria’s manipulations when she appeals to his vanity. Victoria stages a scene to convince him that she is dreaming of him and whispering about her love for him; Berenza is so moved by the delusion that Victoria is languishing with love for him that “the blood rushed from his heart to his head; his senses become confused” (99). A version of this scene later repeats when Berenza believes that Victoria protected him from an assassination attempt; the former incident leads him to make her his mistress, while the latter leads him to make her his wife. Even someone as intelligent and seemingly rational as Berenza is incapable of withstanding appeals to his vanity; his seduction shows that, like Laurina, characters who posses integrity are still capable of yielding to temptation.
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