Women Saints in Masculine Clothing in Żywoty świętych
Starego i Nowego Zakonu by Piotr Skarga Cover Image

Święte w męskim przebraniu w Żywotach świętych Starego i Nowego Zakonu Piotra Skargi
Women Saints in Masculine Clothing in Żywoty świętych Starego i Nowego Zakonu by Piotr Skarga

Author(s): Katarzyna Zielińska
Subject(s): Studies of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Warmińsko-Mazurskiego w Olsztynie
Keywords: sex; hagiography; asexuality; coverture; masuline dress

Summary/Abstract: Women saints disguised as men are a special case of hagiographic heroines. They do not achieve a higher social status or have privileges resulting from being a man. Besides the presentation of saints: Maryna, Eufrozyna, Eugenia and Apollinara, based on Żywoty świętych [Lives of the Saints] by Piotr Skarga, this article attempts to respond to the questions concerning the sense of their efforts. Did they struggle to hide their biological sex to free their sexuality, or did they want to achieve a special sanctity reserved exclusively for men? Yet another reflection is connected with the manner of presenting these ambiguous heroines as well as the assessment of their behaviour carried out by the author of Żywoty świętych.

  • Issue Year: 2018
  • Issue No: 6
  • Page Range: 23-34
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Polish