Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 7956
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Sperberg-McQueen , M. R.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: Whose Body Is It? Chaste Strategies and the Reinforcement of Patriarchy in Three Plays by Hrotswitha von Gandersheim ["The Martyrdom of the Holy Virgins Agape, Chione, and Irena," "The Fall and Repentance of Mary, Niece of the Hermit Abraham," and "The Resurrection of Drusiana and of Callimachus"].
  • Source: Women in German Yearbook 8, ( 1992): Pages 47 - 71.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Journal Article
  • Subject (See Also): Body Chastity in Literature Hagiography Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim, Dramatist Latin Literature Literature- Drama Patriarchy Women in Literature
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: Germany
  • Century: 10
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  • Illustrations:
  • Table:
  • Abstract: Hrotswitha von Gandersheim strove in her plays to present positive models of female virtue. Her success in offering images of women that contrasted with those presented by Terence and by the Church Fathers has attracted considerable attention from critics, some explicitly feminist. While acknowledging Hrotswitha's achievement, this essay is critical of certain aspects of her plays, particularly ones related to character constellations and plot, that reinforce antifeminist, patriarchal values. The author argues that Hrotswitha, indebted to her sources as she was, dramatized narratives that assert male control of women, particularly with respect to the attributes and disposition of their bodies. [Reproduced from Women in German Yearbook 8: Feminist Studies in German Literature and Culture edited by Jeanette Clausen and Sara Friedrichsmeyer by permission of the University Press. © 1993 by the University of Nebraska Press.]
  • Related Resources:
  • Author's Affiliation: University of Illinois, Chicago
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 1992.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 10587446