In her chapter “Saints’ Lives,” Shari Horner writes, “the public display of violence means that the body itself functions as a kind of text, not just to be seen or watched, but read and interpreted. Acts of torture produce marks on the body… The saint herself often invites or suggests the torture; she writes her own story…” (96). Do you think this could be seen as an act of feminism by turning the public scrutiny women’s bodies usually get into a way to create her own narrative? How does Margaret do this in her tale?
Medieval Feminism
ENGL 361 and WGST 322 | Spring 2020 | Dr. Myra Seaman
Margaret uses the torture of her body to emphasize moments of transition, specifically those with religious contexts. During the torture, the body (noted as “flessch”–a reminder of a human body) reacts to by falling “As it were water out of a well” (lines 491-492). This theme of water repeatedly appears throughout the progression of the text in part to remind the reader that harm only affects her body and that her religious spirit will endure. The repetition of water conjures images of purity, cleansing, baptism, all of which act as a form of empowerment for her–a way of reminding her that physical harm to flesh is a symbol of how her spirit will endure. This also works in contrast to the repetition of the word “werld,”, noting that “In the werld we dyd” (line 376). By following these claims with images of water, her harm and symbols of death seem less permanent, acting as more of a release from the world than it is a removal from the world. Therefore, her body’s reaction regains control over the narrative rather than those inflicting harm onto her.
I think this is an act of feminism because it is a way of taking charge of ones vulnerability in a situation. A lot has gone on recently with celebrities releasing their own photos in order to take back the power from their aggressors. I think this is a pretty similar scenario because Olybrius seems to fit the dynamic of the aggressor because is he hiding behind his men, comparable to that of men hiding behind a screen. “To hys men he seyd thus:
“Of all the men that I have here,
Can non of hem bryng hyr nere?
And I had hyr to me brought”
This allowance of having someone else do the dirty work is reminiscent of events happening today, especially In terms of reclamation through struggle.
Margaret’s agency over her own body in the sense that she can be seen as powerful because she endures the pain can be viewed as an act of feminism. The power and independence she has in this situation, particularly when they describe the gruesome torture, can be seen as the narrative moving from that of the torturers to her and her strength within her own body and her ability to persevere. Her ability to tell Olybrius at the beginning that she plans on giving herself up to God and is able to keep with her convictions highlights how both her spiritual and her physical strength is significant. Margaret takes the narrative and shifts it to one of her being a hero, similar to how the male protagonists have been able to shift the narratives to highlight their good characteristics in the other works we’ve read
The way that Margaret essentially re-claims her body and uses it as a tool in order to progress her religious beliefs can certainly be read as an act of feminism. Women’s bodies often are scrutinized due to appealing too seductive for men, but Margaret debunks this notion and uses hers as a method to show her power and commitment to performing her duties. She takes command and deals with her battles with her own body, while Olybrius sends others to take care of his issues for him. This seems to twist the notion of women being associated with frailty due to Margaret enduring intense pain while the powerful man of the story is hiding away.
I see this as an act of feminism since there is a sense of taking control from a difficult and vulnerable moment.
Olybrius uses this as a way to hide away while struggles continue to happen.
We see this happen nowadays by the way people can post something and hide away from reality by staying behind their screen. It is all about getting someone else to do the work for you while you just let it happen.
The way in which Saint Margaret uses the pain her body endures as a tool to create her own narrative can definitely be seen as a form of feminism. In discussing Margaret’s transformation from body to text, Shari Horner puts it best on page 98 when she writes, “here, Margaret, in effect commissioning the text of her own life, envisions the full range of possibilities for female participation in textual culture.” Through this act of torture and inscription, Margaret is claiming an agency over her own body and using it as she wishes, rather than be forced to comply to someone else’s standards or commands. The result creates a domino effect where “female participation in textual culture” is present rather than absent in future generations.
I, too, agree with everyone else and believe that this is an act of feminism because it is a means of taking control of someone’s vulnerability. Margaret presents independence, power, and religious strength within her own body through the torture.
She was able to gain control and strength, although the pain was being inflicted on her, through her body.
Margaret’s decision to maintain her religion and her own virginity in spite of persecution against it should be considered a feminist act. It is her taking agency over here body from the men in her life. If we understand what medieval feminism is in the context of how we have discussed it, that agency she has against not just her father but the king is incredible. Especially because she’s a young woman during this, it could easily be compared to modern acts of resistance from women, except that, Margaret was martyred. The violence she faced and Margaret’s resistance was a sign of that. It was her dying for her faith, her own body, for what she believes in and taking the torture of it in stride.
St. Margaret’s ability to use Olybrius’ acts of torture and violence on her in a way that creates her own story is a feminist and powerful example of her own agency. The obvious power dynamics between them, both in status and gender, are successfully reversed through St. Margaret’s story. She may die, but it ultimately is on her own terms. Her immense strength through her faith eclipses any power shown through Olybrius’ acts of violence. Her martyrdom becomes inherently feminist in nature because of her ability to overcome the misogynist premises for why Olybrius chooses to capture and torture her in the first place (for refusing his advances on her).
I honestly struggle a lot with viewing this reading as feminist. When reading about the female saints in a class on women and religion, we discussed heavily what it meant to have men constantly writing women as martyrs who withstood horrific torture in order to achieve sainthood; it is not nearly as common for men to withstand this type of treatment to be lauded in religion. I have tried to understand it more from the viewpoint of her standing her ground against Olybrius and refusing to give up her body or her beliefs for him, despite how much he threatens her and harms her, and that definitely makes it easier.
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