Download or read book Performing Virginity and Testing Chastity in the Middle Ages written by Kathleen Coyne Kelly and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-11-01 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book challenges the belief that female virginity can be reliably and unambiguously defined, tested and verified. Kelly analyses a variety of medieval Western European texts - including medical treatises and their Classical antecedents - and historical and legal documents. The main focus is the representation of both male and female virgins in saints' legends and romances. The author also makes a comparative study of examples from contemporary fiction, television and film in which testing virginity is a theme. Performing Virginity and Testing Chastity in the Middle Ages presents a compelling and provocative study of the parodox of bodily and spiritual integrity as both presence and absence.