Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


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1. Record Number: 7271
Author(s): McCracken, Peggy.
Contributor(s):
Title : Engendering Sacrifice: Blood, Lineage, and Infanticide in Old French Literature [The author analyzes the theme of infanticide in Chretien de Troyes' "Philomena," "Ami et Amile," accounts of Abraham and Isaac, and "Jourdain de Blaye." The author argues that the child's death takes on a different meaning according to the gender of the sacrificer. When the father kills the child, the blood is paternal blood and represents a sacrifice for loyalty or for God. When the mother kills the child, the blood is maternal, associated with the impurities of childbirth, and is done only as an act of revenge. Title note supplied by Feminae.].
Source: Speculum , 77., 1 (January 2002):  Pages 55 - 75.
Year of Publication: 2002.