Religious Celibacy, Coerced ­ Asexuality, and Catholic Nunhood: A Comparative Study of The Runner Stumbles and Agnes of God
Religious Celibacy, Coerced ­ Asexuality, and Catholic Nunhood: A Comparative Study of The Runner Stumbles and Agnes of God

Summary/Abstract: The representations of Catholic nuns in American theatre often rely on familiar tropes, portraying themeither as devout, selfless caregivers or as harsh, ruler-wielding nun teachers. However, the portrayal of sexuallyrepressed nuns on stage, as well as the scholarly analyses of sexual repression embedded within these charac-ters, remains significantly underexplored. The present study seeks to address this gap by critically examiningthese portrayals and their broader implications within the context of religious and psychological narratives. Thestudy investigates the effects of religious celibacy and coerced asexuality among Catholic nuns as depicted inMilan Stitt’s The Runner Stumbles (1976) and John Pielmeier’s Agnes of God (1982). This study integrates KarenHorney’s psychoanalytical framework with Richard Sipe’s insights on religious celibacy to explore the complex-ities of human sexuality. It emphasises the adverse effects of enforced sexual abstinence on individual sexualidentity, as portrayed in the selected plays. The study also examines the portrayals of sanctuary molestation,the resulting trauma, and the deliberate coping strategies employed by Catholic nuns in the plays as they striveto recover from the trauma of victimization.

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