Torture And Brutality In Medieval Literature: N... May 2026

Tracy posits that medieval literature often condemned torture as the mark of a tyrant rather than an accepted part of the legal system. The prevalence of torture in fiction functioned as satire, critique, and dissent against the status quo. If you'd like to explore this further, I can:

: Highlights the English prohibition against interrogatory torture. Tracy analyzes works like Havelok the Dane and Chaucer’s Prioress's Tale to show how Englishness was defined by rejecting "foreign" brutality. Torture and Brutality in Medieval Literature: N...

Provide a list of the she uses as case studies Tracy analyzes works like Havelok the Dane and

: Explores how identity was shaped by resisting the rod, emphasizing the alterity of those who practiced judicial brutality. Her central argument is that literary depictions of

In (2012), Larissa Tracy challenges the popular myth that the Middle Ages were a time of sadistic and unprovoked torment . Her central argument is that literary depictions of torture were not mirrors of actual historical practice but were instead complex rhetorical tools used to critique authority and define national boundaries. Core Argument: Torture as "Othering"

Torture and Brutality in Medieval Literature - Boydell and Brewer