Versions of virginity in late medieval England / Sarah Salih.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Salih, Sarah, 1967-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English literature--Middle English, 1100-1500--History and criticism.

English literature.

Women and literature--England--History--To 1500.

Women and literature.

Women--Religious life.

History.

Monastic and religious life of women.

Monasticism and religious orders for women.

Virginity--Religious aspects--Christianity.

England.

Virginity--Religious aspects--Christianity--History of doctrines--Middle Ages, 600-1500.

Virginity.

Monasticism and religious orders for women--England--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500.

Monastic and religious life of women--England--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500.

Christian literature, English (Middle)--History and criticism.

Christian literature, English (Middle).

Women--Religious life--England--History--To 1500.

Women.

Kempe, Margery, approximately 1373- Book of Margery Kempe.

Kempe, Margery.

Christian women saints in literature.

Virginity in literature.

Physical Description:

ix, 278 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK ; Rochester, NY : D.S. Brewer, 2001.

Summary:

Medieval virginity theory explored through study of martyrs, nuns and Margery Kempe.

This study looks at what it meant to be a virgin in the middle ages, and the forms which female virginity took. It begins with the assumption that there is more to virginity than sexual inexperience, and that virginity may be considered as a gendered identity, performed rather than biologically determined. The author explores versions of virginity as they appear in medieval saints' lives, in the institutional chastity of nuns, and as shown in the book of Margery Kempe.

Contents:

The Critical Map 4

Narratives of Virginity 9

2. Perpetual Incorruption in Corruptible Flesh: Towards a Theory of Virginity

Medieval Terms 16

Modern Terms 31

3. Performing Virginity: The Katherine Group

Binaries of Sanctity 42

Virgin Martyr Legends 46

The AB Texts 51

Virgins and Romance 57

Sponsae Christi 66

Sex, Violence and Spectacle 74

More Hagiographic Virginities 98

4. Containing Virginity: The Veil and the Wall

Some Parameters 107

Gendering Nuns 115

The Monastic Self in the Community 120

The Veil and the Virgin Individual 127

The Wall and the Virgin Community 136

The Nun of Watton 152

5. Like A Virgin? The Book of Margery Kempe

Placing Margery 166

Modes and Techniques of the Book 170

Reclaiming Virginity 180

Hagiographic and Other Models 186

Margery and the Virgin Martyrs 195

Continuities and Ruptures 201

Martyrdom and Closure 206

Suffering and Penitence 208

Martyrdom by Slander 212

White Clothes 217

Relationships, Sexuality and Desire 224

Final Remarks 240.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 245-269) and index.

ISBN:

0859916227

OCLC:

46641853