Zac Bublitz

Views of the Status of Women

Throughout his letters to Heloise, Abelard emphasizes the importance and significance of intention within the body, heart and soul as opposed to physical actions and deeds. To Abelard, a person is defined more correctly by his or her true desire, feelings and intention spiritually in addition to his or her actions, rather than what he or she might say or appear to be. Abelard keeps true to this belief while considering the status of women. On the contrary, Heloise formulates her view of the status of women based more upon their physicality. Heloise’s distresses regarding the status of women, more specifically the status of women in her convent, stem from the physical differences and inferiority women were understood to have. While Abelard does make mention to the physical weakness of women and Heloise does reference the importance of intention, the two view the status of women differently.
Although women were universally accepted as being the inferior sex, Abelard believes through spirituality, commitment, and intention that women can certainly rank equally and even higher than men. In the opening lines of his letter responding to Heloise’s concern, Abelard quickly presents his understanding and view of the status of women through the words of Luke’s Gospel in which it reads, “As he came to call and redeem both sexes, he deigned to unite them in the true monkhood of his congregation, so that the authority of this profession is therefore granted to men and women alike and the perfection of the life he proposed is to be imitated by everybody.”(page 112) This quote indicates that Abelard believes that it was Christ’s intention for women to have heard the same call to monkhood as men. Abelard presents his claim that the spirituality of women is far more important than their physical inferiority by questioning Mary Magdalene’s anointing of Christ’s head. Abelard justifies this by evaluating Mary Magdalene’s strong spirituality, writing, “The woman conferred the sacrament of a heavenly kingdom and not an earthly one, for he said later of himself: ‘My kingdom is not of this world.’”(page 113) The status of women lies primarily within their spirituality, and should not be so heavily formulated on their physical status in the secular world. Although women could not seen as equals among men on earth, they certainly could be spiritually. Abelard mentions that a woman ought to be judged and viewed “by the merit of her devotion.” (page 114) Abelard continues to emphasize how crucial intentions and actions are when he references to the women present at Christ’s death, saying, “by their faithfulness at the Lord’s death the women showed, by actions rather than words, how much they had loved him in life.” (page 115) Abelard believes that this and other similar spiritual principles are what should establish the status of women in society, not the belief that they are physically inferior. As his letter progresses, Abelard conveys the belief that nuns or “widows” ought to be cared for and honored by the church.(page 117) Nuns, who are married to Christ, can be viewed as widows seeing that their husband, Christ, has died. Abelard believes it is the duty of the Church to care for the “widows” who have lost their spouse. This indicates that although Abelard believes women can be equal to men spiritual, men should still care for and look after them. Additionally, Abelard believes that women of the faith ought to be honored for their reverence to their profession. While Abelard suggests that women should still be cared for, by no means does he feel that women are incapable of achieving levels equal to men, and he supports this by considering the courage of Deborah, Judith, and Esther. (page 118) Abelard constructs his view of the status of women upon spirituality, not secularity. Due to his understanding of virtue’s supremacy to physicality, Abelard believes that women can certainly be equal, if not superior to men.
In relation to Abelard, Heloise seems to stand on a completely different level. Throughout her letter of concern to Abelard, Heloise certainly proposes on multiple instances the inferiority of women and their dependence on men. Heloise understands women to be physically inferior and weaker than men, and allows this belief to dictate how she and other nuns should go about living their monastic life. The best example of Heloise’s understanding of women’s inferiority to men is revealed as she writes, “No one would lay on an ass a burden suitable for an elephant, or expect the same from children and old people as from men, the same, that is, from the weak as from the strong, from the sick as from the healthy, from women, the weaker sex, as from men, the stronger one.”(page 96) A majority of Heloise’s concern in this letter is centered upon her belief that women are significantly inferior to men and much of her focus is physical rather than spiritual. Heloise is concerned regarding articles of the Rule that deal with the clothing of men and physical labor. Additionally, Heloise suggests the “frailty and infirmity” of the weaker sex. (page 97) While Abelard focused primarily on spirituality being the key component of evaluating the status of women, Heloise is concerned a great deal with the physical inferiority of women. Heloise does make it known that she believes in the eyes of God women can be viewed equally as she writes, “it is clear that virtues alone win merit in the eyes of God, and that those who are equal in virtue, however different in works, deserve equally of him.”(page 107) However, there is very little of this type of talk compared to her concern regarding the physical weaknesses of women. Heloise truly believes that although it may be possible for women to be seen equally through the eyes of God, they are certainly inferior to the men of society.
Abelard and Heloise’s view of the status of women as gathered from their letters seem to come across on opposite ends of the spectrum. Heloise initially writes to Abelard expressing her concern regarding how she and her fellow nuns should operate in a society where they are physically inferior to men. Abelard, in turn, reassures Heloise by taking a more spiritual approach to understanding the status of women. Regardless of how the society may understand the differences in the status of men compared to the status of women, the teacher attempted to reassure his pupil that spirituality is the key, and in turn, set her back more fervently on a path to God.