Medieval Virginities

Ruth Evans

ISBN 10: 0708317626 / ISBN 13: 9780708317624

Published by University of Wales Press, GB, 2003

About this Item

From Joan of Arc to Britney Spears, the figure of the virgin has been the subject of considerable scholarly and popular interest. Yet virginity itself is a paradoxical condition, both perfect and monstrous, present and absent, often visible only insofar as it is under threat. Medieval Virginities traces some of the specific manifestations of virginity in late medieval culture. It shows how virginity is represented in medical, legal, hagiographical and historical texts, as well as how the seductive but dangerous figure of the virgin affects the aims and objectives of these texts. Because virginity is so often thought of as self-identical and ahistorical, Medieval Virginities aims to theorize and historicize its various manifestations and to demonstrate how representations and discussions of virginity continuously shift and change. The variety of subjects and disciplines represented here testify both to the elusiveness of virginity and to its lasting appeal and importance. Medieval Virginities shows how virginity's inherent ambiguity highlights the problems, contradictions and discontinuities lurking within medieval ideologies. It will be essential reading for anyone interested in questions of gender identity, conceptions of the body, subjectivity, truth and representation in medieval culture.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780708317624

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Medieval Virginities
• Publisher: University of Wales Press, GB
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0708317626
• ISBN 13: 9780708317624
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Virgins and virginity are frequently referred to in late medieval culture and in particular in historical, medical, legal and hagiographical literature. Whilst virginity can often become linked with chastity, it can be both a permanent and temporary state within the lifecycle, and remains no less ambiguous and elusive to definition. This collection of twelve essays takes a multi-disciplinary approach to the subject of the manifestation of virginity in the late medieval period. Subjects explored include virginity referred to in law, Welsh prose, clerical perceptions, the virginal portrayal of Edward the Confessor, erotic mysticism, alchemy, the virgin martyr and Joan of Arc.

About the Author

Anke Bernau is an associate lecturer in English literature at the University of Cardiff. Sarah Salih is a lecturer in English literature at the University of East Anglia and the author of Holiness and Gender, Versions of Virginity in Late Medieval England, and Performing Virginity: Sex and Violence in the Katherine Group. Ruth Evans is a senior lecturer in English literature at the University of Cardiff and the author of The Idea of the Vernacular, Simone de Beauvoir's the Second Sex: New Interdisciplinary Essays, The Medieval Translator, and Feminist Readings in Middle English Literature.