Anna Quattro
Eng 231
Dr. Mark K. Fulk
Due: 9/25/17
Paper 1: Theology and Feminism and Julian of Norwich
Julian of Norwich lived during the fourteenth century. She did not begin her life as an anchoress.
Julian became deathly ill around the age of thirty. During this time of illness she experienced visions of
Jesus suffering on the cross. Once she miraculously recovered she devoted her life to prayer and
became an anchorite and spent her life living in a cell inside of a church. Julian of Norwich chose to use
illness as a site of power, for her to meditate on and write about her visions, and for her to convery her
beliefs. She called them “Revelations of Divine Love”. Julian was able to recreate her persona from being
just a “visionary” to being a theologian.
Although we know very little about Julian of Norwich we do know that she lived during a time
that it was common known that religion was male dominated. Women were given lesser positions
within the church and were viewed as almost inferior to men. Although this was the case, it was still
known that most of the early women writers, such as Julian of Norwich, had a strong connection with
their religious beliefs and religion overall. She expressed her connection with her faith through writing
about her religion. Before Julian became an anchorite, Julian was viewed as a secular woman. Even
during this time there were different expectations of women. Mothers were expected to be “super
