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The Fall(?) of the Old English Female Poetic Image

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 October 2020

Pat Belanoff
Pat Belanoff*
Affiliation:
State University of New YorkStony Brook
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Abstract

The Genesis B poet built his image of Eve out of the traditional elements used to create the regal, glowing, intelligent, verbally adept women of Old English poetry, but the story he was telling mandated distortions of that image. Labeling Eve as weak-minded (no other woman in the corpus is so characterized) represents the most damaging distortion. Although the reasons for this intrusion of antifeminism into a poetry mostly devoid of it remain elusive, the spread of Christianity, the restructuring of secular and religious power, and increasing literacy were undoubtedly factors. But despite the distortions, the image of Eve retains its stereotypical power because of the connotative and associative strength of the very image the poet is undercutting. This unique female portrait both contributes to and reflects the ambiguity and problematic status of the Anglo-Saxon woman in a society undergoing rapid and complex cultural change.

Type
Research Article
Information
PMLA , Volume 104 , Issue 5 , October 1989 , pp. 822 - 831
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1989

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