Analysis of Heloise: A Medieval Woman
Analysis of Heloise: A Medieval Woman
Heloise was completely unlike my perceptions of what medieval
women were like. I was under the impression that the women of
this time period were weak in spirit, obedient, and usually
chaste. I did expect that some women might have engaged in
pre-marital sex, but I thought that these women would have
regarded such behavior as a disgrace. Heloise completely changed
my misconceptions of medieval women; she seems more like a
twentieth century woman in her strength and personal
characteristics. While Heloise did succumb to her husband's,
Abelard, desire for her to join a convent, this action of
Heloise's does not exhibit weakness but rather is an indication
of her innate strength. I believe a weak woman would have found
another man, since Abelard was now unable to satisfy a woman
physically. In joining the convent, Heloise proves that she was
not a slave to human desires but was a slave, perhaps, to the
man she loved unconditionally. This kind of love that Heloise
had for Abelard is one that only people strong in spirit can
have for another human being. Her love did not fade at all, even
though they were separate for many years. Heloise joined the
convent for two reasons: Abelard wished for her to do it and she
deemed it as retribution for Abelard's castration. Abelard wrote
in his Historia calamitatum that Heloise opposed their marriage
and said "the world would justly exact punishment from her if
she removed such a light [meaning Abelard] from its midst"
(Abelard 70). It is obvious that Heloise viewed the convent as
her punishment for marrying Abelard and his subsequent
mutilation. Many people might think that Heloise's submission to
Abelard is weakness but I do not. Heloise was a very intelligent
and educated woman; her submission was the result of the love
she had for him, not inherent weakness. It takes great strength
of mind to put aside our own desires and put someone else's
wishes before our own. This is what Heloise did. She wrote in
her letter to Abelard, "God knows I never sought anything in you
except yourself; I wanted simply you, nothing of yours. I looked
for no marriage-bond, no marriage portion, and it was not my own
pleasures and wishes I sought to gratify, as you well know, but
yours" (Heloise 113). To be so enamoured of someone requires
tremendous strength. Even though Heloise was extremely
successful as a nun and an abbess and was praised by many, there
is no indication that Heloise was completely in the service of
God in her duties as a nun. Heloise wrote this to Abelard:
It was not any sense of vocation which brought me as a young
girl to accept the austerities of the cloister, but your bidding
alone, and if I deserve no gratitude from you, you may judge for
yourself how my labours are in vain. I can expect no reward for
this from God, for it is certain that I have done nothing as yet
for love of him (Heloise 116).
Heloise viewed herself as a hypocrite; she said that men who
did not know her secret longings praised her for her virtue. She
wrote Abelard, "How can it be called repentance for sins,
however great the mortification of the flesh, if the mind still
retains the will to sin and is on fire with its old desires?"
(Heloise 132). This sentiment proves Heloise never gave herself
completely to God, because she always belonged to Abelard. To
shut oneself in a nunnery when one's heart is not in it requires
enormous strength.