Allegories of love in Marguerite Porete's Mirror of simple souls.

9782503519029

Allegories of love in Marguerite Porete's Mirror of simple souls.

Kocher, Suzanne.

Brepols Publishers

2008

216 pages

$87.00

Hardcover

Medieval women; texts and contexts; v.17

BV5091

The mystical work, Mirror of simple souls, is notable for being written in French (not Latin), being written by a woman, and being a widely influential and popular spiritual tract even though its author was burnt at the stake by the Inquisition. In this thorough analysis, Kocher (her affiliation is not noted) shows how the work uses remarkably gender-rich metaphor and language in the allegorical imagery and narrative of the text, which conveys how one's soul can be joined with the divine. Working from a close reading of the Middle French version of the work in Chantilly, Kocher describes the various levels of allegory in the work, frequently quoting passages in the original and providing English translation for each. In addition to the main theme of gender, Kocher discusses in detail the work's reception, its audiences, and its theology. Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co.

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