ABSTRACT
T h e sense o f historical realism encapsulated in these b rie f an d frag m en ted sentences is a t first sight com pelling. Isabella seems on the defensive an d vulnerable. She faced questions w hich sought to rep resen t h er as sexu ally prom iscuous and thus no t respectable. She claim ed th a t the sex was u nw an ted - som ething th a t h ad been done to her, against h e r will. T his is not, o f course, evidence th a t was strictly called for since this was a hearing to establish patern ity , no t a crim inal trial for rape or indecent assault. She coun tered allegations th a t an o th er m an was the father, b u t did this by invoking ano ther represen tation o f sex as som ething im posed upon a w om an (putting her on a bed). (Sam W illiam s, incidentally, said th a t he was no t the fa ther as he h ad been im poten t since ru p tu rin g h im self in 1877.) O th e r people h ad told lies abou t her. T h e testim ony seeks to rep resen t h er as the victim o f im portunate m ale sexuality. T his is b u t one of very m any com parab le accounts b u ried in the records o f n ineteen th -cen tu ry courts from w orking w om en, called upon to stand up in a public, m ale-dom inated courtroom and n a rra te details o f violence or unw an ted sex. A key purpose o f this chap ter is to consider exactly w hat kinds o f m eanings a fem inist h istorian can draw from such accounts.
