Proserpina- Long Before You Showed Me Death, I Conquered It

The moral debate of Proserpina's story does not surround her rape and abduction but instead, whether or not she chose to eat the pomegranate seeds. Many believe that voluntarily eating the pomegranate seeds signals that Proserpina consented to marrying Hades and remaining in the underworld. This justification has allowed her story to been romanticized in the same way Beauty and the Beast has, in an attempt to make us forget that even if she fell in love with her abuser, he is still an abuser. One tiny act that non-verbally hints that she had some control does not change the fact that she was raped and abducted and subsequently blamed for the actions that resulted from her rape and abduction. Ultimately regardless of if she ended up in love, regardless of if she ate the seeds or not, his actions are not justified or excusable. In this story and in any story of assault; take the focus off the tiny things that could be taken as the victims "wanting it" and focus on the blatant, undeniable act of violence done against them.