Hrotsvitha PDF

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An essay about Hrotsvitha and what she did to make an impact on theatre....

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Dudenhoeffer 1 Agatha Dudenhoeffer Professor Herrington DRAM 2361 26 February 2020 Biography: Hrotsvitha According to Hrotsvitha Von Gandersheim, German Poet and Historian, even though Hrotsvitha is described as “the most remarkable woman” of her times by several sources. There is no clear information of her family origins, nor exact dates or documented data of her birth, the year she became a nun, nor her death date; neither the reasons why decided to take the veil. Hrotsvitha was born around 930 to 935 in Saxony, Germany, and died between 1001-1002 at Gandersheim monastery. She was also known as Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim, Hrotsvitha von Gandersheim, Hrotsuit, Hrosvitha, Hrosvit, Hroswitha, Hrosvitha, Hrostsvit, Hrotsvithae, Roswita, Roswitha. According to Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim, the sources on this biography are based solely on Hrotsvitha literary contribution as a “the first woman playwright of the west.” According to Hrotsvitha, Hrotsvitha had written all her work in Latin and it was rediscover and translated on 1600 Hrotsvitha was a secular canoness, writer of dramas, poems, legends, comedies, and she was a historian. Actually, according to Hrotsvitha - Name's Meaning of Hrotsvitha, she is “considered the first female writer from the German lands, the first female historian, the first person since antiquity to write dramas in the Latin West, and the first poetess in Germany.” According to Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim – The Most Remarkable Women of her Time, even though there is no clear information about her family, it is known that Hrotsvitha could leave the monastery and still live a comfortable life. The data makes us believe that she may

Dudenhoeffer 2 come from a noble family, even if there is no evidence of it. Also, though history does not specify why she joins the monastery, a woman, at that time, would be expected to be married and be a “good devoted mother” at her teenage ages. Plus, abandonment and divorce by men were common at those times, leaving women in a difficult situation. The monastery gave the woman some safety and security, even if they were expected to work hard and submission. There were several monasteries at the time, but Gandersheim in Saxony was one of the most important of that city. She started her studies under the nun Rikkardis, Abbess Gerberga (granddaughter of King Henry the Fowler). It was believed that she wrote most of her work when she was older based on the maturity of her writing. Hrotsvitha lived in a period where the government and religion very restricted theatrical activity. Also, it was infrequent in this period for a woman to have access to education, less to become a writer. Even with all the disadvantages of her times, Hrotsvitha overcame these challenges and used her writing to promote Christian values and virtues. According to Hrotsvitha Of Gandersheim (C. 935–1001), Hotsvitha was not only considered “the first woman playwright but also the first feminist playwright because she strove to elevate the status of women in her plays from the more typical shrew or courtesan character seen in the plays of the Roman playwright Terence, whom she imitated, to women of dignity, self-resolve, and virtue.” In other words, even though women are seen as inferior to me: physically, emotionally, and intellectually. Hrotsvitha’s work suggests that women are also disproportionately tempted to sin. Because women are weaker, then they are easier moldable by God's wishes.; which also brings that women are even on God’s eyes. Although Hrotsvitha was a believer that morality as the best way to achieve the perfect relationship with God, she was also

Dudenhoeffer 3 understanding and empathetic towards mother and prostitutes because she understood that in the majority of the cases, these were outside women's hands. According to Hrotsvitha Of Gandersheim (C. 935–1001), Hrotsvitha started writing legends, comedies, and plays. Her book of Legends or Camina Liber Primus (950-960) us a collection of eight legends: Maria, Ascencio, Gongolfus, Pelagius, Basilius, Dionysius, and Agnes. They were written in the form of a rhythmic scheme in poetry called dactylic hexameter, which was popular in those times. These poems are about “the Nativity of the Virgin, the Ascension, and a series of legends of saints.” Theophilus and Basilius are legends based on the battle of Greek saints, where a sinner sells his soul to the Devil. According to Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim (c. 935–1001), Hrotsvitha plays are known in translation by different titles: Abraham, also known as The Fall and Repentance of Mary; Callimachus, also known as The Resurrection of Drusiana; Dulcitis, also known as The Martyrdom of the Holy Virgins Irene, Agape and Chionia or The Martyrdom of the Holy Virgins Agape, Chionia, and Hirena; Gallicanus, also known as The Conversion of General Gallicanus; Paphnutius, also known as The Conversion of the Thais, the Harlot, in Plays, or The Conversion of the Harlot Thais; Sapientia, also known as The Martyrdom of the Holy Virgins Faith, Hope, and Charity or The Martyrdom of the Holy Virgins Fides, Spes, and Karitas. Due to her reality, Hrotsvitha plays used the biographies and histories of the saints to represent an idealization of a perfect Christian life. She also used her writing as a voice against the negative Roman stereotype of women that were assumed to be immoral, emotional, and weak. Four of her plays: Gallicanus, Dulcitius, Callimachus, and Sapientia, explains the need for submission and suffering to become closer to religious principles and God. Her writing style was simple, and they were organized in short scenes with specific dialogue.

Dudenhoeffer 4 According to Hroswitha of Gandersheim, she also had some comedy elements. For example, in one of her plays, Dulcitius, there were three virgin sisters (agape, Chionia, and Irena) who were accused by an evil governor. During the play, the wicked man breaks into a broom closet, stumbles among pans and pots, ended up covered in soot, and when his man saw the governor covered in soot, thought he was the devil and the soldiers ran away. The women watch and laugh. Although they go on to become martyrs for their faith, they do so in their terms. Dulcitus is the only comedy where Hrosvitha aligns with the modern comedic genre.” The third play was Callimach: this is about a virgin married woman who would not even sleep with her husband, but there was another man, Callimachus, who confessed his love and his desires to her. But she refused because she wanted to preserve her purity and her husband’s honor. The man got upset and threatened her to rape her. The woman, Drusiana, prays to God to save her, and her husband Andronicus returned home to find her dead before Callimachus would rape her. Callimachus pay one of the servants of the family to bring him to Drusiana’s grave to rape her dead body, but a poisonous snake kills him. Hrotsvitha’s goal of this play was to explain to women that they were empowered by religion, which would bring them freedom and independence. Her fourth play was Abraham. The play is about Abraham’s orphan niece, Maria, who lived in a small cell where she can live a life of virtue. After twenty years, Abraham came back to visit her and was told that a man disguised as a monk had seduced her, and she was introduced to the world a whore. Abraham dressed as the monk and pretended to want to be with her. Then he discovered himself, and Maria was so embarrassed and accepted to go back with his uncle to live the rest of her life in her little cell without windows away and safe from the temptation of the Devil.

Dudenhoeffer 5 The fifth play was Paphnutius. Paphnutius was affected by how Thais, a beautiful prostitute, seduced the man. Paphnutius was sure he could convert her to Christianity and save her soul. He made himself passed as one of her lovers went to the brothel to talk to her. He got shocked and upset to know that she was already a Christian. He was so angry that scare her at the point that she eventually repented. She left with Paphnutius to go in a small cell, as Maria. The cell was to protect her of the men who may still be looking for her, to keep the temptations away. This was also convinced that was the way to salvation. Paphnutius came back three years later, Thais was a brand-new woman; all her sins were forgiven, and she died shortly after that. The last play is Sapientia. Sapientia and her three children: Faith, Hope, and Charity, were a Christian family. The emperor, Hadrian, had pronounced them enemies of Romo because they were loyal to the Christian traditions and refused to follow the Roman gods. Hadrian thought she would encourage other people to do so. Hadrian tries to convince them to follow the Roman gods, but their faith was unbreakable. The daughters were sentenced to horrifying and cruel tortures as a punishment for the mother. Even with such a dreadful event (beatings, burning, and finally killed by a sword), the girls accepted it for their love for their Christian God. The play ended when the mother, with the help of another woman, bury them outside the city, and forty days later, when she was praying for her God to reunite her with her children, Sapientia dies, and God granted her with her wishes. According to Hroswitha of Gandersheim and the Destiny of Women, every one of these plays had a lesson for the readers. Hrotsvitha wanted to educate people on the power of praying and religion in their lives. She was pursuing them to follow a life of purity and Christian values through her dramatic format, but even more critical. She was trying to fight the stereotype against theater and woman as a weak being who was seen as inferior to man. Her work was

Dudenhoeffer 6 unknown and rediscovered after the 1600s. Then in the 1970s, feminists use her as a role model form her time, showing that women had played important roles throughout human history even if they were forgotten. Overall, Hrotsvitha significantly impacted theatre by being the first female playwriter. This then lead to many other females contributing and making plays toward the theatre field.

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Dudenhoeffer 8 Works Cited Haight, Anne (Lyon). Hroswitha of Gandersheim; Her Life, Times, and Works, and a Comprehensive Bibliography. Hroswitha Club, 1965. Accessed 26 Feb. 2020.

Frankforter, A. Daniel. “Hroswitha of Gandersheim and the Destiny of Women.” The Historian, vol. 41, no. 2, Jan. 1979, pp. 295–314., doi:10.1111/j.1540-6563.1979.tb00548.x. Accessed 26 Feb. 2020.

Sack, Harald. “Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim – The Most Remarkable Women of Her Time.” SciHi Blog, 6 Feb. 2019, scihi.org/hrotsvitha-gandersheim/. Accessed 26 Feb. 2020.

Lewis, Jone Johnson. “Hrotsvitha Von Gandersheim, German Poet and Historian.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 15 Mar. 2019, www.thoughtco.com/hrotsvitha-von-gandersheim-3529674. Accessed 26 Feb. 2020.

“Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim (c. 935–1001).” Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia.com, 14 Feb. 2020, www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-andmaps/hrotsvitha-gandersheim-c-935-1001. Accessed 26 Feb. 2020....