Abraham (Hrotsvitha play)
The play follows a young orphan, Mary, who is persuaded by her uncle Abraham, a hermit, and his companion, Effrem, to lead a life of complete chastity and devotion to God.
Years later, when Abraham comes to her disguised as a lover, Mary returns to her life of devotion and submits to a strict regimen of penance.
In the desert near Lampsacus, Abraham approaches his co-hermit, Effrem, outside of his cell and asks for a moment to talk.
Her name, Mary, compels him to initiate her into a monastic noviciate, and he asks Effrem for support in leading her down this path.
Effrem notes the mystical significance of her name, persuading the young child that her place is alongside Mother of God in Heaven.
After commenting that she sees nothing mystical in her name, Effrem explains that 'Mary' stands for 'Stella Maris', meaning the star around which the world revolves.
If she does so, he asserts, she will be freed of her earthly body and eventually arrive in Mary's bridal chamber, in the arms of her Son.
Excited by Effrem's rhetoric, Mary exclaims that she will deny herself in order to be worthy of those heavenly blessings.
Abraham discloses that two days before Mary's disappearance, he had a nightmare in which a massive snake dashed outside his cell and grabbed a little white dove that was by his side.
When Abraham learns of her whereabouts, he will go to her disguised as a lover, in order to convert her back to her godly life.
Effrem accepts this plan but asks what Abraham will do if he has meat or wine put before him while charging in the secular world.
Condoning this, Effrem claims that in order to win back a soul for Christ, it is alright to stray from religious asceticism.
The friend gives him his disguise, and Abraham decides to take some gold so he can pay the master of Mary's house.
Once Abraham has received the man's hospitality, he asks see the young girl about whom he has heard great things.
She says that she will walk behind him in his footsteps back to his cell, but Abraham demands that she will ride on his horse to protect her feet.
Agreeing that Mary should avoid the place where "the Enemy has triumphed," Abraham tells her to occupy a different cell where the Serpent will not find her.
[4] In the preface to her plays, Hrosvit addresses this influence: "I...have not hesitated to imitate in my writings a poet [Terence] whose works are so widely read, in order to glorify, within the limits of my poor talent, the admirable chastity of Christian virgins in the same form which has been used to describe the shameless charms of sinful women.
In her book Feminism and Theatre, Sue-Ellen Case writes of Hrotsvit's popularity among pioneers of the suffrage movement.
[5] British suffragettes such as Edith Craig mounted Hrotsvit's plays and embraced the female playwright as a protofeminist hero.
[citation needed] Contemporary critics have written nuanced assessments of Hrotsvit's story of Mary's fall and redemption.
Because Mary fell from grace, she is able to restore her faith with new strength and significance, ultimately bringing that power to others.
Chaste Strategies and the Reinforcement of Patriarchy in Three Plays by Hrotswitha von Gandersheim, Sperberg-McQueen argues that Mary's identity and agency are stripped from her throughout Abraham.
Not only is Abraham's role in Mary's loss of virginity dubious, but his disguise as a lover later in the play is also exploitative.
