I had many feelings while reading this play and if I could sum them up in one word, it would be "contradictory." La Nonne qui laissa son abbaye is a morality play from the 14th century about a nun who leaves her abbey to marry a knight, and eventually returns to the service of Our Lady. From a 21st century feminist perspective, I of course see many problems with the story, but moreover in the context of the 14th century I see many internal inconsistencies. To begin with, during the period, it was debated whether or not women even had souls, so the idea that the soul of this nun was in danger of damnation was already questionable to begin with. Secondly, it is clear that the nun sins in the process of breaking her vow of chastity to marry the knight, but she is hardly "living in sin" as the Virgin suggests. In comparison to other plays like Le Miracle de Théophile, she appears to live a completely righteous life after leaving the church. And thirdly, the play ends with her and her husband abandoning their two sons without a thought to their wellbeing. The play seems to argue that a life of celibacy is always superior to parenthood, even arguing for the abandonment of children. When reading a play like this, it is hard not to this about the coming Reformation, and the importance that protestants would place on family life, and more importantly, the mandate for women to produce more christians.
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Jennifer KellettM.A. French Literature Florida State University Archives
June 2021
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