Current PhD Students

Lauren Berghorst

Thesis Title:

‘Optimam partem elegit’: Mary Magdalene in Early Modern Literature and Art

Supervisor:

Professor Helen Smith

Description:

Important recent work has shed new light on the reception and uses of biblical women in early modern literature and art. This thesis asks what this meant for one neglected and complex figure: Mary Magdalene. It will explore representations of the Magdalene in a wide range of texts and visual representations to show her changing status and meaning in post-Reformation England; principally what the Magdalene meant for women, in both public and domestic spheres. The Magdalene as penitent, sinner, prostitute, lover, apostle, and even mother-figure, are frequent descriptions within her representation in the suggested medieval and early modern sources. Especially the latter portrays an anxiety and uncertainty within religious communities in post-Reformation England. Crucially, how does she represent female agency, as well as sin, redemption and loss in a religiously tumultuous period?

Lauren holds a BA in English with History of Art and an MRes in English, both from the University of Hull. Past research and current interests include domestic crime and abuse in the early modern period, and deviancy in power and sexuality in early modern representations of witchcraft.