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https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ Theses Digitisation: https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/research/enlighten/theses/digitisation/ This is a digitised version of the original print thesis. Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Teresa of Avila's Elaboration of Imagery in Her Literary Expression of Mystical Experience by John Allan Barnes Paddock Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD to the University of Glasgow. Research conducted in the Faculty of Arts, University of Glasgow. September, 2004 © John Paddock 2004 ProQuest Number: 10390856 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely ev e n t that the author did not send a co m p le te manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10390856 Published by ProQuest LLO (2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C o d e Microform Edition © ProQuest LLO. ProQuest LLO. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.Q. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 4 8 1 0 6 - 1346 s i ï CONTENTS Abstract Preface i Acknowledgements iv Introduction 1 Chapter 1: The background to St Teresa's writings 10 Introduction 10 I Imagery in Spanish literature prior to Teresa; Traditions that nourished her 11 II Teresa's imagery: some insights from modern critical scholarship 26 III Santa Teresa in the social context of sixteenth century Spain 37 IV Santa Teresa in the religious context of sixteenth century Spain 42 V Santa Teresa in the literary context of sixteenth century Spain 46 VI Santa Teresa in the spiritual context of sixteenth century Spain 53 VII Teresa and the Bible 66 Chapter 2: The meaning of “Oracion” in the writings of St Teresa Introduction 88 I “Oracion” as communication between the physical/ spiritual nature o f Man and the spiritual nature o f God 93 II “Oracion” as productive o f spiritual impetus to achieve the paradoxical union of opposites (the human and divine) 99 III “Oracion” as experience 108 IV “Oracion” as conveyed through Teresa's God-given imagery of the higher mystical experiences 114 V “Oracion” as “incarnation”: Teresa's expression of her sublime experiences through imagery 124 The Imagery of Water Introduction 139 I The soul watered as a garden to produce growth 139 II The First Water: the first stage in spiritual progress 150 III Torno y arcaduces: imagery of increase 155 IV The Third Water: the River 162 V The Fourth Water: Rain 171 VI Imagery o f water: Las moradas 177 VII Water and Wine 186 Chapter 4: Imagery of the Castle Introduction 197 I The Castle: a palace of experiential exploration 198 II The Castle: a journey o f spiritual progress and Perception 212 III The Castle: a place o f spiritual battle 220 Chapter 5: The Imagery of Fire Introduction 239 I Fire and Sexual Passion 246 "I II Fire and Water 256 III Fire and Light and transformation 263 IV Fire and flight; expansion and transformation 268 Conclusion 276 Appendices I Imagery in the Psalms with echoes in Teresa's writings (Psalm Order) 284 II Imagery in the Psalms with echoes in Teresa's writing (classified by images used) 302 III Imagery in the book Ezekiel with echoes in Teresa's writings 314 IV Imagery in the book of Ezekiel (classified by Images used) 322 Bibliography 330 Teresa o f Avila's elaboration o f imagery in her literary expression of mystical experience By John Paddock I Abstract o f Thesis presented for the Degree of PhD in the University of Glasgow September 2004 : This thesis argues that Teresa of Avila's mystical writings contain images which she methodically fashions and elaborates into a developed and consistent scheme designed to express, to the extent possible through literary artistry, her mystical experiences of God. Teresa does not give a specific or detailed account of the sources for her key images. However, her mental and spiritual formation were those o f a devout Catholic in sixteenth century Spanish society, in which the teaching of the Catholic Church (Scripture and Tradition), with its Christocentric, redemptive doctrines, was as fundamental to life for the secular laity as it was for the religious Orders. When Teresa introduces a particular image, whether from secular or religious sources, she does so as if it is a memory that occurs to her which gives her a trusted foundation to build on. From the initial image-idea, whether consciously or unconsciously remembered, she develops and expands a complex system within an inter-relating structure. The thesis seeks to show that she develops, extends and elaborates imagery as her mystical experiences intensify, and as she reflects on them with steadily growing insight and maturity. Her imagery undergoes a process of growth and development to maturity as Teresa attempts to convert ultimately indescribable mystical experiences into intellectually understandable metaphor. Chapter 1 examines the social and religious background to her writings and the literary and spiritual traditions in which she writes. Chapter 2 explores the meaning of “oracion” in Teresa's writings, for which I have retained the Spanish word, for the term “prayer” does not encapsulate the depth o f meaning and significance of the term “oracion” as understood by Teresa and her contemporaries. This chapter, while identifying some o f Teresa's principal imagery, considers the problem she encounters of expressing the inexpressible, the difficulty o f paradoxes, and her literary management o f concepts or ideas which challenge, or even defy, rational and intellectual credibility. Chapter 3 examines the key Teresian imagery of water, in which the soul is seen as a garden which produces growth and increase, and shows how this imagery relates both to similar ideas in Catholic teaching and to Teresa's other key images. Chapter 4 considers the complexity of the imagery o f the Castle as it is used to convey both the process and the effects of spiritual exploration and experience as achieved through “oracion”. Chapter 5 examines Teresa's imagery o f Fire, considering that image in relation to other “elemental” images already surveyed, and to those of other writers, secular and sacred. The thesis concludes that all Teresa's key images, and indeed subsidiary images, inter relate, growing and developing into a skilfully contrived fabric o f imagery which is o f the highest literary quality, and which has a profoundly spiritual impact on the reader. The images seem to take on a life and significance of their own, so that they relate to the other images and to the whole scheme of Teresian imagery, and yet at the same time convey to the reader a constant awareness that there is much more spiritual meaning and experience beyond what these words of the image express, "‘y asi es mejor no decir màs ”. PREFACE The life and works o f Santa Teresa de Avila have continued to interest scholars “I and critics as fit subjects of major study from her own lifetime (1515-1582) right down to to the present day. Her works continue to be reprinted and studied, and new biographers regularly add, with fresh insights, to an already large and interesting eollection of books on her life. I Santa Teresa is often discussed in conjunction with her equally important mystic contemporary, San Juan de la Cruz. For those who do so, however, there | is a danger to be avoided, for the contrast between Teresa's basic schooling and San Juan's philosophical, theological and intellectual formation at University can result in the false assumption that San Juan expresses his thoughts and feelings in a qualitatively “better” way. There is no doubt that San Juan wrote some of the most sublime poetry in the Spanish language, while Teresa's poetry is certainly much less distinguished in literary quality. As prose writers, however, though they are very different, they are much more evenly matched in terms of the quality of their achievement. San Juan's prose works are polished, logical and methodical. His poetry and prose have been illuminated by the most distinguished international scholars o f mysticism in Spain.^ Teresa's prose style does not display such outward and visible signs o f a scholarly training, but the kaleidescope o f images which she exploits in her apparently spontaneous, unpolished and haphazard style of Castilian actually masks a comparable systematic thinker who is equally able to express creatively through her prose 1 writing the ultimately inexpressible complexities of her mystical experience. ^ San Juan and Santa Teresa, both acknowledged by theologians and scholars alike as giants of spirituality and literature, can each stand alone, and should as such, in their own right. San Juan de la Cruz and Santa Teresa, whilst having a different type and level of education, shared the same Catholic culture as products of sixteenth- century Spanish society.