CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY SAN MARCOS THESIS SIGNATURE PAGE THESIS SUBMITTED FOR PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE MASTER OF ARTS IN LITERATURE AND WRITING STUDIES THESIS TITLE Eve. the Virgin. and the Magdalene: Constructions of the Feminine _______________ AUTHOR: Jennifer Elizabeth Strickland DATE OF SUCCESSFUL DEFENSE: November 19. 2002 THE THESIS HAS BEEN ACCEPTED BY THE THESIS COMMITTEE IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN LITERATURE AND WRITING STUDIES. Dr. Madeleine Marshall w~ THESIS COMMITTEE CHAIR (TYPED) a~SIGNATURE DATE ( • ~ < Dr. Dawn Formo t.J:,_, ""' 1 }I /-.__ ~-.r lt- \Cl-(•~ THESIS COMMITTEE MEMBER (TYPED) SIGNATURE DATE Dr. Martha Stoddard Holmes THESIS COMMITTEE MEMBER (TYPED) r---------------------------------------------------------------------------------~- Eve, the Virgin, and the Magdalene: Constructions ofthe Feminine A Master's Thesis For Literature and Writing Studies By Jennifer Strickland Table of Contents Introduction 1 1. Eve: A Model of Womanhood 7 2. The Virgin Mary: A Model of Womanhood 50 3. Mary Magdalene: A Model of Womanhood 90 Notes 127 Sources 132 Introduction This thesis examines three women from ancient literature who have become archetypes of femininity, which serve as lenses through which women have seen themselves for centuries. It raises the questions of how these women of ancient texts have been perceived and how their representation has influenced women's self understanding. Each of these women has a myth about her- a significant story which has grown so powerful that it has shaped people's worldview. As these myths have been constructed over the centuries, they have resulted in paradigms, which are patterns or models of the female gender. These patterns of femininity, in tum, act as lenses through which women view the world, their gender and ultimately, themselves. Since these paradigms have been created and sustained in a male dominant, patriarchal society, they have often distorted rather than clarified women's world view. Furthermore, as women look through these lenses at themselves as in a mirror, they see a distorted image of femininity. However ingrained in our culture these myths have become, they have nevertheless proved to distort women's world view and self image, and they therefore lack value and authenticity. Thus, they call for a return to the ancient texts to recast their meanings in ways that are less misshapen by the tradition. For this study, I have chosen to look at the three most prominent women to have emerged from the Old and New Testaments: Eve, the Virgin r...fary, and Mary Magdalene. These women have attracted so much attention from literary, artistic, and Strickland 2 ecclesiastical sources that their images have bad an enormous impact on the way women view themselves. For example, Eve has been seen as a seductress, while she was not; the Virgin Mary has been seen as asexual, which is hardly true; and Mary Magdalene has been seen as a typical ''whore turned saint," which greatly undermines her role in the early Christian community. These misperceptions reveal how largely women have been historically misunderstood. Furthermore, because of their prominence in secular and religious thought, the archetypes of femininity embodied in Eve, the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene have been for the most part detrimental to women, because they are both unsubstantiated by the biblical text and because they are not reflective of women's reality. Jn this thesis, I evaluate each woman's paradigm as follows: first, I illuminate its foundational influences; next, I defme it by identifying its central elements; then I evaluate its positive and negative cultural implications; I follow by unraveling it by mining the biblical text for the evidence that sustains the myth; and finally, I seek to reconstruct the myth based on what the literature suggests it should be, in ways that are inclusive of women's reality. For this thesis, I have worked between a number of disciplines, including the arts, theology, literature and biblical scholarship. Because these paradigms are the product of artistic, linguistic and theological interpretation, they have required the resources of a variety of specialties in order to be explored. Using the tools of cultural studies, feminist theoretical perspectives and biblical hermeneutics, I read the text in multiple ways. I rely upon a wide range of biblical scholarship and literary Strickland 3 criticism, as well as anthropological, linguistic, folkloric, mythological and artistic sources. By integrating this variety of sources, I am able to construct a detailed portrait of each woman's paradigm, her impact on women's world view, and the options for rewriting her histocy in more useful ways. Two theoretical questions must be posed and addressed when it comes to my methodology: first, the use of biblical text as literature, and second, the use of feminist hermeneutics as a means for examining women's history. On the issue of the Bible as literature, I first claim, in the words of feminist hermeneutician and theologianPhyllis Trible, that: To study the Bible as literature is to recognize, not prove, that it is in fact literature. I do not argue for its literacy status any more than I would argue for the literacy character of the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Bhagavad Gita, the Divine Comedy, or Shakespearean plays. Instead, I explore the literature to discover its vitality. This artistic pursuit is neither isolated from nor opposed to a religious interest, neither superior nor subordinate. (8) The Bible is literature; in fact it is the most foundational compilation of ancient literature in the discipline. This acknowledgement, however, neither affirms nor denies the presence of religious belief; instead, it functions autonomously from religion and serves as a text to be explored Writing an academic thesis using the Bible as literature is a delicate task, however, for the writer always seeks to focus on the study of literature, even when Strickland 4 the fact that it is also scripture repeatedly brings itself to the foreground. When one studies the Bible as literature, or conversely, the Bible as scripture, one will discover unexpected resonances and a "common music" between the two (8). Literature and scripture actually work to enrich one another, making it nearly impossible to separate them. Therefore, regardless of one's opinion of its authority, the Bible as literature is the Bible as scripture. And conversely, regardless of one's opinion of its quality, the Bible as scripture is the Bible as literature (8). Because of its integrated nature, I have made an effort to focus on the Bible's value as literature while not discounting its value as scripture. I have attempted, for example, to maintain a balance between the study of literature (such as seeing Eve as a character), and the study of scripture (such as seeing the Virgin Mary as the mother of Christ). Because I see both women as characters and historical figures, I have endeavored to maintain this careful equilibrium, but because of the marked resonances between the Bible and real life, this is quite difficult to achieve. Choosing a translation of the Bible to reference was not difficult for me, for one stands out above all.the rest. While many theologians prefer the New Revised Standard Edition for its accuracy in translation, I find the New International Version to be j~st as accurate and widely more accessible to common readers. Specifically, I use the Inclusive Language Edition, published by Hodder & Stoughton out of London, for its painstaking detail in maintaining a precise translation of gender­ specific and non-gender-specific nouns and pronouns. It seems only right that when Strickland 5 the Bible is translated, it is done so with the entire human race in mind, and this edition does just that. 1 On the issue of feminism, I argue that feminist ideology is not single­ mindedly concentrated on women nor is it opposed to men; instead, it is a useful tool in understanding the injustices done to women's history by the patriarchy. Theology is an ideal discipline for examining the affects of patriarchy on the cause of women, because it is a male-dominant field. The Bible, in addition, is an ideal tool for critiquing the misogynistic nature of most theology. As Trible writes, "Feminism is my concluding illustration of involvement between the world and the Bible. By feminism I do not mean a narrow focus upon women, but rather a critique of culture in light of misogyny" (7). Feminism, then, is a tool for analyzing the cultural treatment of women. Using its ideology to re-write women's history, however, does not discount the valuable contribution men have made to both literary and religious history. On the contrary, feminist ideology is a means of appreciating the realities of women's history, the ways their realities have been misconstrued, and the ways we can perhaps correct those injustices by producing more valuable resources for understanding women's history. There is a great need for this revisiting of the histories and symbolism of women in ancient texts. This thesis is just one small piece in the very large puzzle that female writers are putting together to recreate the picture of women in hist.ory. It is my hope that this thesis contributes towards this effort, because I believe it to be an essential one. First, the work presented here recognizes that when women are viewed Strickland 6 through the lens of patriarchy, they are fundamentally misunderstood. Second, this work provides the opportunity to re-think the stereotypes that have been handed down to us and perhaps even recreate healthier models of femininity. Finally, by using such a variety of disciplines to interpret biblical texts, this thesis affirms that there are multiple ways of reading literature that should be acknowledged and valued.