• Elizabeth B. Davis deposited “Woman, Why Weepest Thou?” Re-Visioning the Golden Age Magdalen in the group Group logo of Feminist HumanitiesFeminist Humanities on Humanities Commons 6 months, 4 weeks ago

    This article examines Mary Magdalene’s biblical identity and poetic representation in selected sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spanish texts. An alternative reading or “re-visioning” (Adrienne Rich’s term) of the narratives that tell her story reclaims her figure from masculinist characterizations of Mary Magdalene that have made an enduring impact on Western culture. The representative texts are by Francisco de Quevedo, Lope de Vega Carpio, Cristóbal de Mesa, the Marquis of Berlanga, Diego de Hojeda, and Sor María de Santo Domingo. While most of these narratives show a thoroughly conventional portrait of the woman from Magdala, others offer partially dissenting views that subvert the dominant representation of the female figure.