In Horace's Epistles, the ancient Roman poet makes the wry observation that after Rome conquered Greece, Greece had its revenge by culturally captivating its uncivilized conqueror (2.1.156). (1) Demonstrating a remarkable durability and adaptability, the "civilizing" arts of the ancient Greeks continued to exert their considerable influence over Victoria's vast empire in the nineteenth century, inspiring writers, educators, architects, artists, and politicians in a myriad of ways. (2) One such writer who responded to the rich literature and history of the ancient world was the extraordinarily talented autodidact Augusta Webster. Locating her verse drama In a Day (1882) in ancient Greece under Roman occupation, Webster employs the historical clash of Roman and Greek cultures as a framework for her analysis of asymmetrical power relations, particularly with regard to gender and social status. (3) In In a Day, Webster is specifically interested in those who may be described as dependent and/or subjugated and their inability to reach beyond the personal to condemn the structural and systematic inequalities that blight their lives. The key themes of In a Day are consequently those of freedom and oppression, which operate on intellectual, physical, legal, political, and emotional levels. Crucially, in terms of Webster's feminist politics, she is concerned with the practical and political effects of willful ignorance, considered indifference, and inaction against oppression and with the way those in power can exploit such passivity. Informed by both classical authors such as Livy and contemporary philosophers such as John Stuart Mill, Webster uses the subjugation of Greece by Rome as the historical context for her representation of how powerful paternalistic actors can undermine liberty and justice, as a result of individual ignorance and collective complacency. In a Day should therefore be read as a powerful statement revealing Webster's frustration with the stalling campaign for women's social and political freedoms and as a sophisticated critique of political oppression and paternalism. (4) As an active campaigner for women's social and political rights and agency, Webster repeatedly returned to the issue of suffrage and autonomy for women in her critical essays, dramas, and poetry. Now known more for her poetic outputs, such as Portraits (1870), Augusta Webster was a technically versatile writer who produced two fascinating historical dramas, In a Day and The Sentence (1887). (5) Whereas The Sentence focuses on the dangerously sycophantic court of the despotic emperor Caligula, In a Day represents the struggle for freedom of a young slave girl and that of the subjugated community in which she lives. The two dramas therefore look at the issues of constrained liberty and ruling power, and the ruthless prosecution of such power, from two complementary yet alternative perspectives. In Webster's examination of the gendered underpinnings of domestic relations and imperial power, her dramas expose the fiction of benevolent paternalism and emphasize the risks of political inaction. Consequently, it can be seen that Webster's tragedies actually promote a political philosophy of liberty, civic responsibility, and self-determination, as the best hope of all individuals and nation-states. In In a Day, however, the blunt force of Rome with its political pragmatism, wealth, and military might overcomes the ideologically fractured Greek community, leading to the death of Webster's enslaved heroine. While the tragic outcome of In a Day may be seen as a representation of Webster's pessimism concerning the lack of progress on women's rights, on a more constructive level, Webster's cautionary tale can also be seen as a call for collective political action. In order to avoid individual suffering and political despotism, Webster suggests that everyone, including the disenfranchised, must take interest in, and responsibility for, liberty and justice. …

中文翻译：

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自由的界限：奥古斯塔·韦伯斯特一天中的性别、权力和自由

在贺拉斯的书信中，古罗马诗人讽刺地指出，在罗马征服希腊之后，希腊通过在文化上吸引其未开化的征服者来进行报复（2.1.156）。(1) 表现出非凡的持久性和适应性，古希腊人的“文明”艺术在十九世纪继续对维多利亚庞大的帝国施加相当大的影响，以无数方式激励着作家、教育家、建筑师、艺术家和政治家. (2) 一位对古代世界丰富的文学和历史做出回应的作家是才华横溢的自学者奥古斯塔韦伯斯特。在罗马占领下的古希腊定位她的诗歌剧《一天之内》（1882），韦伯斯特将罗马和希腊文化的历史冲突作为她分析不对称权力关系的框架，特别是在性别和社会地位方面。(3) 在一天中，韦伯斯特对那些可能被描述为依赖和/或被征服的人特别感兴趣，他们无法超越个人谴责破坏他们生活的结构性和系统性不平等。因此，一天的关键主题是自由和压迫的主题，它们在智力、身体、法律、政治和情感层面发挥作用。至关重要的是，就韦伯斯特的女权主义政治而言，她关注的是故意无知、被认为漠不关心和对压迫不作为的实际和政治影响，以及掌权者可以利用这种被动的方式。受李维等古典作家和约翰·斯图尔特·米尔等当代哲学家的启发，韦伯斯特以罗马对希腊的征服为历史背景，描述了强大的家长式行为者如何由于个人的无知和无知而破坏自由和正义。集体自满。因此，《一日之夜》应该被解读为一个有力的声明，它揭示了韦伯斯特对停滞不前的妇女社会和政治自由运动的失望，以及对政治压迫和家长作风的复杂批评。(4) 作为女性社会和政治权利和能动性的积极倡导者，韦伯斯特在她的批判性文章、戏剧和诗歌中多次回到女性的选举权和自主权问题。现在以她的诗歌作品而闻名，例如肖像（1870），奥古斯塔·韦伯斯特 (Augusta Webster) 是一位技术多才多艺的作家，他创作了两部引人入胜的历史剧，《一日之战》和《句子》(1887)。(5) The Sentence 关注的是专制皇帝 Caligula 危险的谄媚宫廷，而 In a Day 则代表了一个年轻的女奴和她所生活的被征服社区争取自由的斗争。因此，这两部戏剧从两个互补但又不同的角度审视了自由受限和统治权力的问题，以及对这种权力的无情起诉。在韦伯斯特对家庭关系和帝国权力的性别基础的考察中，她的戏剧揭露了仁慈家长式的虚构，并强调了政治不作为的风险。因此，可以看出韦伯斯特的悲剧实际上促进了一种政治自由哲学，公民责任和自决是所有个人和民族国家的最大希望。然而，在《一日之战》中，罗马以其政治实用主义、财富和军事力量的直率战胜了意识形态上支离破碎的希腊社区，导致韦伯斯特被奴役的女主人公死亡。虽然《一天之内》的悲惨结局可能被视为韦伯斯特对妇女权利缺乏进展的悲观情绪的表现，但在更具建设性的层面上，韦伯斯特的警示故事也可以被视为对集体政治行动的呼吁。为了避免个人痛苦和政治专制，韦伯斯特建议每个人，包括被剥夺权利的人，都必须对自由和正义感兴趣并承担责任。… 作为所有个人和民族国家的最大希望。然而，在《一日之战》中，罗马以其政治实用主义、财富和军事力量的直率战胜了意识形态上支离破碎的希腊社区，导致韦伯斯特被奴役的女主人公死亡。虽然《一天之内》的悲惨结局可能被视为韦伯斯特对妇女权利缺乏进展的悲观情绪的表现，但在更具建设性的层面上，韦伯斯特的警示故事也可以被视为对集体政治行动的呼吁。为了避免个人痛苦和政治专制，韦伯斯特建议每个人，包括被剥夺权利的人，都必须对自由和正义感兴趣并承担责任。… 作为所有个人和民族国家的最大希望。然而，在《一日之战》中，罗马以其政治实用主义、财富和军事力量的直率战胜了意识形态上支离破碎的希腊社区，导致韦伯斯特被奴役的女主人公死亡。虽然《一天之内》的悲惨结局可能被视为韦伯斯特对妇女权利缺乏进展的悲观情绪的表现，但在更具建设性的层面上，韦伯斯特的警示故事也可以被视为对集体政治行动的呼吁。为了避免个人痛苦和政治专制，韦伯斯特建议每个人，包括被剥夺权利的人，都必须对自由和正义感兴趣并承担责任。… 军事力量战胜了意识形态分裂的希腊社区，导致韦伯斯特被奴役的女主人公死亡。虽然《一天之内》的悲惨结局可能被视为韦伯斯特对妇女权利缺乏进展的悲观情绪的表现，但在更具建设性的层面上，韦伯斯特的警示故事也可以被视为对集体政治行动的呼吁。为了避免个人痛苦和政治专制，韦伯斯特建议每个人，包括被剥夺权利的人，都必须对自由和正义感兴趣并承担责任。… 军事力量战胜了意识形态上支离破碎的希腊社区，导致韦伯斯特被奴役的女主角死亡。虽然《一天之内》的悲惨结局可能被视为韦伯斯特对妇女权利缺乏进展的悲观情绪的表现，但在更具建设性的层面上，韦伯斯特的警示故事也可以被视为对集体政治行动的呼吁。为了避免个人痛苦和政治专制，韦伯斯特建议每个人，包括被剥夺权利的人，都必须对自由和正义感兴趣并承担责任。… 在更具建设性的层面上，韦伯斯特的警示故事也可以看作是对集体政治行动的呼吁。为了避免个人痛苦和政治专制，韦伯斯特建议每个人，包括被剥夺权利的人，都必须对自由和正义感兴趣并承担责任。… 在更具建设性的层面上，韦伯斯特的警示故事也可以看作是对集体政治行动的呼吁。为了避免个人痛苦和政治专制，韦伯斯特建议每个人，包括被剥夺权利的人，都必须对自由和正义感兴趣并承担责任。…