Summary: The Feminized Cross Of The Rood

Dockray-Miller, Mary. "The Feminized Cross of the Dream of the Rood." Philological Quarterly 76.1 (1997): 1+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 15 Nov. 2014.

The article “The Feminized Cross of the Dream of the Rood” discusses the concept of feminism as it is applied to the cross and the notion of masculinity as it is applied to Jesus, and how they were connected as well as proving the gender theory. Dockray -Miller, an American scholar of Anglo-Saxon England best known for her work on gender in the Anglo-Saxon period, argues that in the story “The Dream of the Rood” that the cross, itself, is feminized because throughout the story, it is described like a woman. When the cross speaks of Jesus, it describes him in a way a woman would base
In contrast, Dockray-Miller also discusses different phallic symbols, ostensibly the masculine ideas, throughout the poem. Dockray-Miller focuses particular on the gender of the cross, pulling her supportive evidence from the Old English Genesis, and other fellow writers and supporters like Faith Patten who was the first critic to note the feminization of the cross in “The Dream of the Rood” theses help formulate her point of view . This source will be particularly useful in showing how in literatures if you read extensively you can discover things like a hint on gender like how there is sometimes a clash between masculinity and feminism based on the reader’s point of view. I find this critical essay to be a very important source and informative. This essay and content is very easy to understand and comprehend, and the argument stated and opinion made can be backed up based on all the
Dr. Andrew Galloway, a professor of the department of English at Cornell University, argues that “The Dream of the Rood” develops the dream theory through a narrative mode, fully consonant with Old English poetic idioms but contradictory to Gregorian Dream Theory. Focusing in particular on how the dream theory has manifested its way in an Anglo-Saxon story although originally this theory is applied to old English poetry basically stating new theories can be applied to old story as far as time period wise with literature. Galloway influences and Development on this topic stems from her research from Hieatt “Dream Frame and Verbal Echo in the Dream of the Rood” and Robert Burlin “The Ruthwell Cross, the Dream of the Rood and the Vita Contemplativa”. This source will be exceptionally useful in showing how the dream theory relates to the story and how theories can sometimes differ or change depending on your reading. I find this article to be a very interesting and knowledgeable source. It very clear and easy to understand although there are some Latin words throughout the reading, and the arguments follows its evidence when stating a point. I would recommend this article “Dream-theory in “The Dream of The Rood “and ‘The Wanderer’ to anyone interested in seeing how the Dream theory can be applied to a story