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Introduction
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INTRODUCTION UN WRITIi-IG HIS TWO BOOKS on The Aj)parel of Women (De' cultu feminarum) Tertullian addresses himself especially to women who have lately b.xome converts to the Christian faith.l "Vith solemn sternness, and often with caustic wit, he castigates the luxury and extravagance of dress and adornment which fashion and convention have imposed on the fair sex of his day. He describes these eccentricities of feminine vanity as fitting only for harlots and immodest women, and contrasts them with the virtues with which alone it becomes Christian women to embellish themselves. The two books do not form a coherent whole in the sense that the second book is a continuation of the first. The second is rather a new and more comprehensive treatment of the subject of the first book which the author left unfinished, apparently considering it unsatisfactory. Originally, the two books were distinct works, the first being entitled De habitu muliebri, the second De cultu feminarum.2 1 'Blessed' (benedictae; cf, Book 2.4.1; 5.5; 9.4; 13,5) was an appellation given especially to catechumens and neophytes. See above, p. 17 n.l. 2 See the critical apparaLUs in Kroymann's edition, CorjJus Christianarum , Series Latina 1.343. 111 112 TERTULLIAN The contents of the first book can be summed up as follows. In the introductory chapter, Tertullian reminds the Christian women that it was through Eve, the first woman, that sin entered into the world; hence, it is rather a penitential garb that is best suited to the daughters of Eve. According to the Book of H enoch, ornaments and cosmetics are the inventions of the fallen angels and, therefore, of diabolical origin (Ch. 2). Chapter 3 is devoted to a defense of the genuineness of this apocryphal work. With Chapter 4 the author resumes the treatment of his topic. He proposes to examine female toilet itself, distinguishing between cultus (dress which consists of gold, silver, jewels, and clothes) and ornatus (make-up which includes care of the hair, skin, etc.). To the first he imputes the crime of ambition; to the second, that of prostitution. In dealing with the first (Ch. 5-7) he tries to show that gold and silver are merely earthy materials like others and hence, in themselves, possess no greater value than other metals. The same is true concerning precious stones and pearls. It is solely their rarity that makes them so desirable. In like manner the dyeing of materials for clothing is unnatural. 'God is not pleased by· what He Himself did not produce. \Ve cannot suppose that God was unable to produce sheep with purple or sky-blue fleeces. If He was able, then He chose not to do it; and what God refused to do certainly cannot be lawful for men to make. Therefore, those things cannot be the best by nature which do not come from God, who is the author of nature. Hence, they must be understood to be from the Devil, who is the corrupter of nature' (Ch. 8). The use of God's creatures must be regulated by the distribution the Creator Himself has made of them. Out of immoderate desire for possessing them there grows ambition which, with other vices in its train, may become so powerful 'that one [44.206.248.122] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 02:08 GMT) THE APPAREL OF WOMEN 113 damsel carries the whole income from a large fortune on her small body' (Ch. 9). Here Tertullian breaks off suddenly, without having even touched upon the second part of his topic (ornatus~ 'make-up'). The topic of the second book is the same, but the author has reversed the arrangement of the subject matter. He deals first with the question of cosmetics, ostentatious dressing of the hair, etc. (ornatu5) , and then with jewelry and dress (cultus). He prefaces the book by pointing out that an excessive desire to please does not agree with a Christian woman's principal virtue, which is modesty (Ch. 1). By an inordinate love of admiration the woman can become the object of sinful desires and thus be an accessory to the sins of others (Ch. 2). As 'pursuers of things spiritual,' Christian women may safely scorn all glory that is 'in the flesh' (Ch. 3) . Married women have no valid reason for enhancing their natural beauty, since they have to please no one else but their own husbands (Ch. 4). Though there is no virtue in...