<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>For medieval audiences women occupied a specific, designated cultural area which, while they could freely form it according to their will and nature, was in fact imaginary and immaterial. Women in social, legal, and religious contexts were mostly counted among the receptive, inactive, and non-ruling groups. On both levels, there was a group of features universally defining all women: the strong, virtuous and independent model Aquinas lamented was replaced in real life by the sinful, carnal and weak stereotype, and the erotic, emotional, mysterious, and often wild type present predominantly in literature. Indeed, women were a source of scientific, theological, and cultural fascination because of their uncanny and complex nature, producing both fear and desire of the source and nature of the unattainable and inaccessible femininity. In social contexts, however, the enchantress seems to lose that veil of allure and, instead, is forced to re-define her identity by suppressing, denying, or losing her supernatural features. With the example of Saint Agnes from the South English Legendary <italic>Life</italic><italic>of</italic><italic>Saint</italic><italic>Agnes</italic>, and Melior from <italic>Partonope</italic><italic>of</italic><italic>Blois</italic> (ca. 1450), the article will explore how medieval texts dealt with the complex and unruly female supernatural, and how its neutralization and subduing fitted into the moral, scientific, and cultural norms of medieval society.</p></abstract>

For medieval audiences women occupied a specific, designated cultural area which, while they could freely form it according to their will and nature, was in fact imaginary and immaterial. Women in social, legal, and religious contexts were mostly counted among the receptive, inactive, and non-ruling groups. On both levels, there was a group of features universally defining all women: the strong, virtuous and independent model Aquinas lamented was replaced in real life by the sinful, carnal and weak stereotype, and the erotic, emotional, mysterious, and often wild type present predominantly in literature. Indeed, women were a source of scientific, theological, and cultural fascination because of their uncanny and complex nature, producing both fear and desire of the source and nature of the unattainable and inaccessible femininity. In social contexts, however, the enchantress seems to lose that veil of allure and, instead, is forced to re-define her identity by suppressing, denying, or losing her supernatural features. With the example of Saint Agnes from the South English Legendary LifeofSaintAgnes, and Melior from PartonopeofBlois (ca. 1450), the article will explore how medieval texts dealt with the complex and unruly female supernatural, and how its neutralization and subduing fitted into the moral, scientific, and cultural norms of medieval society.

Uncovering the Secret: Medieval Women, Magic and the Other

Faculty of English, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań / Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, University of Toronto

Studia Anglica Posnaniensia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Uncovering the Secret: Medieval Women, Magic and the Other"}

For medieval audiences women occupied a specific, designated cultural area which, while they could freely form it according to their will and nature, was in...

Uncovering the Secret: Medieval Women, Magic and the Other

Article Category: LITERATURE

Published Online: Jan 29, 2015

Page range: 83 - 103

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/stap-2014-0009

Keywords
medieval, women, magic, supernatural, society

© 2014 Joanna Ludwikowska

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Uncovering the Secret: Medieval Women, Magic and the Other

Article Category: LITERATURE

Published Online: Jan 29, 2015

Page range: 83 - 103

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/stap-2014-0009

Keywordsmedieval, women, magic, supernatural, society

© 2014 Joanna Ludwikowska

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
medieval, women, magic, supernatural, society