Whose Body is it?: Chaste Strategies and the Reinforcement of Patriarchy in Three Plays by Hrotswitha von Gandersheim

Hrotswitha von Gandersheim strove in her plays to present positive models of female virtue. Her success in offering images of women that contrasted with those presented by Terence and by the Church Fathers has attracted considerable attention from critics, some explicitly feminist. While acknowledging Hrotswitha's achievement, this essay is critical of certain aspects of her plays, particularly ones related to character constellations and plot, that reinforce antifeminist, patriarchal values. The author argues that Hrotswitha, indebted to her sources as she was, dramatized narratives that assert male control of women, particularly with respect to the attributes and disposition of their bodies. (M.R.S-McQ)