Date of Award
1-1-1983
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
English
Abstract
This dissertation deals with sex-role stereotyping in mediaeval English hagiography, in particular with all the Anglo-Saxon hagiographical poems, AElfric's Lives of the Saints, other selected pieces of Old English prose hagiography, and selected pieces of Middle English prose and verse hagiography, among them The South English Legendary. By looking at the ways in which the various authors present holy men and holy women, showing the positions and roles the saints had in both religious and secular society, the way they lived and the way they died, the dissertation shows that the sex-determined roles varied from author to author and age to age.The Anglo-Saxon poets deal even-handedly with sanctus and sancta, the Old English prose authors deal less with women, present them mostly in the role of passive follower or passive sufferer. In the Middle English lives, men and women are dealt with generally after the fashion of the Old English prose lives.
Recommended Citation
Simmons, James Thomas Matthew, "Sancti Et Sanctae: Sex-Role Stereotyping In Mediaeval English Hagiography (Aelfric)." (1983). Theses and Dissertations. 8929.
https://commons.und.edu/theses/8929