Vibia Perpetua's Gendered Hybridity: A Critical Examination of Perpetua's Androgynous Identity in the Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas

This thesis discusses the current scholarly conversation surrounding the gender identity of Perpetua as illustrated in The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicitas. While many scholars contend that Perpetua's exemplification of various masculine traits and virtues makes her "male," I argue that such conclusion overlooks too quickly the spectrum of possibilities. For, by taking a deeper look within the narrative, I argue that Perpetua maintains a lasting sense of femininity throughout the work's entirety. Instead of arriving at a forced "either/or" conclusion, then, I suggest that another possible gender category may be at play: androgyny. In order to support this claim, however, I look to the meaning of masculine, feminine, and androgynous traits in antiquity, as well as investigate whether androgyny was a known and/or popular category during the time of Perpetua's martyrdom.

Grantor dc:publisher

Wake Forest University

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Lieberman, Sarah Elizabeth

• Ancient Religious Texts

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/33455

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:wakespace.lib.wfu.edu:10339/33455