Celtic Studies Commons^™

"Lips As Red As Parthian" Irish Heroines And The Monks Who Saved Them, Claire Aliese Rutledge

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Those who study European society after the fall of the Roman Empire up until the dawn of the Renaissance can attest to the misogyny found in social, political, and religious institutions. Women were relegated to the corners of society for the sake of their modesty and their families' honor. Why, then, are the female characters in pre- Christian Irish mythology so humorous, powerful, intelligent, fierce, sensual, and respected when the theology which preserved their characters viewed femininity in a much different light? Ireland had been solidly Christian since the 400's CE, and Irish society was influenced by the newly introduced …