Does Melchior rape Wendla in SPRING AWAKENING? — Page 3

I think a lot of how you view this show has a lot to do with your own first experiences with sex.

I liken that scene to many teenage girls these days. Say she wants to remain a virgin until she's married, or at least until she's older. But her boyfriend constantly makes comments about how it's difficult for him to wait. Because he "loves" her and wants to "be closer to her" and all those lines boys tell girls to get them in bed. Maybe the guy really does love her, but he clearly doesn't care enough about her to see that she's not ready. So the girl ends up giving in and getting it over with because she's scared to lose the guy. She gives permission, so they have consensual sex. It isn't rape, really. But it also isn't really wanted by the girl.

Granted nowadays most teenagers know all the risks involved with having sex, but I don't know if that point alone decides whether or not Wendla was raped. I do think that the fact that Melchior knew he was more knowledgable and ready for the act than she was makes it even worse than if he had only pressured her (like in the above teen scenario)

So in short- my vote is that it was not rape in the musical. But Wendla was not ready and most likely would have preferred to wait. Melchior was wrong to go through with it, but I don't think he raped her. That's my opinion anyhow.

in the original play by wedekind, it is implied if not said that melchior does in fact rape wendla; however, in the broadway production, it is not rape. he does bring it upon her, but it is consentual.

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I haven't seen the show yet but from what I've heard on the cast recording, it never seemed like rape to me. She may not have totally known what she was getting into, but the song "The Guilty Ones" always made it sound like she did want it.

It's definitely rape, for all the reasons stated before. Wendla may later sing "I let him love me", but has anyone thought that may be the victim blaming herself for not being successful in fighting him off? Some victims sadly do blame themselves for things other people do to them.

Although having seen the show, I think it much better fits the idea that Melchior and Wendla had relations multiple times and those times were definitely much more on the consensual side of things.

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In the quote that Wendla sings that keeps getting brought up, I always took the line "So let that be my story" to be what she wants OTHERS to say about her... so it doesn't necessarily mean that she believes it herself.

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She does say in Act II when the doctor is with them that "I just wanted to be with him... how could that..." indiciating that she did do what she did becuase she wanted to, even though she didnt know that the act of sex led to pregnancy. I really dont think it is rape at all.

I think if it was no doubt rape, it would upset some people and turn some people away from the show. I think it was turned ambiguous partly to not make Melchoir seem like a jerk in the end. Like I said before,Mayer didn't want the only representation of sex to be rape.

Becoz, going back to what I said was "frightening" earlier...he pressures her into having sex anyway and then they actually try to pass it off as love. It's not technically rape, but it's a pretty lousy message to be giving out about love and sex if you ask me...

Of course it doesn't upset most people because people take these sorts of things at surface value. God only knows why...

I don't think the show is trying to romanticize that scene or sex at all.

The answer is a very simple NO.

I haven't read the other posts on here except for the main one. I think anyone who thinks it was rape should look up the definition of rape. In fact, here is one of the main definitions from dictionary.com

Rape - any act of sexual intercourse that is forced upon a person.

Did she give consent to what was happening? Yes. Did she not know what it was? Yes. Not knowing what it was doesn't make it rape. That just makes her ignorant of the situation.

While I agree with BroadwayGirl, I'm a little disturbed that that definition defines rape only as an act perpetrated by men on women... it should go both ways. And within gender, too.

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I was a bit disturbed by that as well. It's like a sexist definition of rape.

oh yeah, totally rapes her. doesn't wear a condom. it's actually happening onstage as well, full bareback cream pie every night.

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