Zofloya

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