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Anchoritic Spirituality in Medieval England: (9546 words) |
 | Ancrene Wisse are frequently criticized by feminist scholars for their emphasis on the female body as the source of sin, for their general misogyny, and for the distorted views of women which they represent. |
| Ancrene Wisse is comparable to devotional texts written for monks and thus predictable, in terms of its repeated cautions against yielding to temptation, entertaining inappropriate guests, and engaging in extreme, life-threatening acts of penance, and its exhortations to pray, read, and keep constantly busy, parts of it reveal an intriguing originality of symbolism. |
| Ancrene Wisse may or may not have perceived the female nature as essentially and inescapably lustful, but it is fairly clear that he was quite comfortable with encouraging the anchoresses to think of themselves as the spouses of Christ, literally as well as figuratively. |
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