Shadows of Mary (Religion and Culture in the Middle Ages Series): Reading the Virgin Mary in Medieval Texts

The figuration of the Virgin Mary was often contradictory in medieval texts and theological, philosophical and social perceptions of her greatly influenced both sacred and secular literature. In this study Teresa Reed explores five examples of Marian figuration in Chaucer's Constance, the Wife of Bath, the medical women of the English Trotula , St Margaret of Antioch and the Pearl Maiden. As Reed illustrates, medieval concepts of 'the feminine' and womanhood can be traced through the figure of the Virgin Mary and were a means for the church especially to express their worldly concerns and anxieties.