The recurring presentation of this story as theater by these different theorists reveals not only the performative elements of republicanism but, as Matthes argues, adds to Hannah Arendt’s emphasis on the oral dimensions of speech and hearing the important idea of public space as a visual field.
Lucretia’s story also helps illuminate the gendering of republicanism, particularly the aspects of violence and subordination that lie at its very origin. By focusing attention on this underlying and deeply gendered quality of republics, Matthes brings republican theory into fruitful dialogue with feminism.
Melissa M. Matthes is Assistant Professor of Government & Politics and Women's Studies at the University of Maryland. Her articles have appeared in Alif and Political Theory, and she has contributed a chapter to The Nature of Woman and the Art of Politics (Eduardo Velasquez, ed., 1999).