Her Own Personal Law: A Detective Analysis Between Il processo (2019), Circeo (2022) and La legge di Lidia Poët (2023–)

Abstract

My paper aims to analyze the figure of the detective as a site of visual, political and social tension within a comparison of the main female character in three different Italian legal dramas: Il processo (2019); Circeo and La legge di Lidia Poët (2023). The analysis of the procedural framework in which three women are portrayed in dialogue with the Law is working to build a discourse aimed to overturning a traditionally male sphere and power and an idea of passivity generally associated with women. Sexuality, which is intended as a discourse able to generating speculative views on reality, operates as a mechanism triggering the staging of the pursuit of Justice. While La legge di Lidia Poët proposes a storyline with a empowered female charachter, Il processo and Circeo envision the development of the detective character trying to subvert the traditional female's victim status.