Performing Virginity and Testing Chastity in the Middle Ages
| By: | Kathleen Coyne Kelly |
| Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
| Print ISBN: | 9780415758246 |
| eText ISBN: | 9781134737550 |
| Edition: | 1 |
| Copyright: | 2000 |
| Format: | Reflowable |
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This book challenges the belief that female virginity can be reliably and unambiguously defined, tested and verified. Kelly analyses a variety of medieval Western European texts - including medical treatises and their Classical antecedents - and historical and legal documents. The main focus is the representation of both male and female virgins in saints' legends and romances. The author also makes a comparative study of examples from contemporary fiction, television and film in which testing virginity is a theme. Performing Virginity and Testing Chastity in the Middle Ages presents a compelling and provocative study of the parodox of bodily and spiritual integrity as both presence and absence.