The Martyrdom of Perpetua
Mara
March 8, 2013
Ancient History
The Martyrdom Of Perpetua
In the year 203, there were many Christians tried, arrested, and found guilty by the governor of Carthage. Among them was a young woman named Vivia Perpetua who was nursing a young child at the time. (Perspectives from the Past 188.) Through her diary entries, one can see Romans view of women in their society. It also shows how Perpetua is a significant example of a changing view of women in the new Christian society by showing how she was not confined by how she was supposed to act as a woman and took a traditionally masculine role in several situations.
Though she excelled in what was expected of her as a woman, she did not exclude the idea of gender roles. She still conformed to a strict masculine and feminine separation where masculinity was associated with strength and conviction and femininity was associated with weakness and passivity. She did not value her femininity as strength; rather she shed it and deliberately masculinized herself to be strong. Though Perpetua was a strong woman, her narrative still upheld the idea that the only way to be heroic is to be like a man, and this is shown several times throughout the text.
The first example of this presentation as well as Perpetua’s transcendence of gender roles was the complete lack of presence or influence from her husband. He was not even named in the text, and there was no indication of his existence other than a statement that Perpetua was “honorably married” (Perspectives from the Past 188). On the whereabouts of the husband, a theory that I had was that he may have been dead or that Perpetua took the path of many women after her, who, in the process of becoming Christians, separated themselves of her prior familial relationships, including husbands and children, so that they might become virginal and dedicate themselves to God. Whatever the truth, it’s clear Perpetua’s husband was not important to her story. She went about her
March 8, 2013
Ancient History
The Martyrdom Of Perpetua
In the year 203, there were many Christians tried, arrested, and found guilty by the governor of Carthage. Among them was a young woman named Vivia Perpetua who was nursing a young child at the time. (Perspectives from the Past 188.) Through her diary entries, one can see Romans view of women in their society. It also shows how Perpetua is a significant example of a changing view of women in the new Christian society by showing how she was not confined by how she was supposed to act as a woman and took a traditionally masculine role in several situations.
Though she excelled in what was expected of her as a woman, she did not exclude the idea of gender roles. She still conformed to a strict masculine and feminine separation where masculinity was associated with strength and conviction and femininity was associated with weakness and passivity. She did not value her femininity as strength; rather she shed it and deliberately masculinized herself to be strong. Though Perpetua was a strong woman, her narrative still upheld the idea that the only way to be heroic is to be like a man, and this is shown several times throughout the text.
The first example of this presentation as well as Perpetua’s transcendence of gender roles was the complete lack of presence or influence from her husband. He was not even named in the text, and there was no indication of his existence other than a statement that Perpetua was “honorably married” (Perspectives from the Past 188). On the whereabouts of the husband, a theory that I had was that he may have been dead or that Perpetua took the path of many women after her, who, in the process of becoming Christians, separated themselves of her prior familial relationships, including husbands and children, so that they might become virginal and dedicate themselves to God. Whatever the truth, it’s clear Perpetua’s husband was not important to her story. She went about her