Puppy Maniac

Nehi is a sweet puppy. She is my bebe. She is the center of my world.
She's also a very large dog, with some breed specific characteristics.

She's also (like me) a creature of habit. So when her behavior changes I pay attention.
The last couple of weeks, Nehi has a new routine. Around 5 or 6p, she lays down by the front door and whines. And cries.

She stares at me. I don't know why. It's not our walk time. It's not her dinner time. But this is her new nightly thing.
Add to this two other events that happened this week:

1. Nehi and I were playing in the yard, we stopped, Nehi wanted to continue, so she right-hooked me right in the mouth.
2. This morning, playing with Dragon on the bed, Nehi clamped down on my wrist.

Now, because of her size, and breeds, Nehi has been trained to have a soft mouth. Which I am thankful for, because she got me with the back teeth, where the power is, and if she'd come down with full force, that would have hurt a lot more than it did.

On a side note- I've now determined that I could be murdered in my apartment and no one would notice, as I screamed bloody murder when she did this and there was no reaction from my neighbors.

I don't know what's with this behavior change. She's also barking A LOT to try and get my attention (not her stranger-danger protection bark, the pay-attention-to-me-now bark). I'm home all the time now that it's summer. Because I'm home, except for rare days (like last night when it was still 87 degrees at 830p) she gets two solid walks a day, plus playtime in the yard/house.

So I don't know why she's suddenly acting like this.

• Maybe she's just acclimating to me being home all the time? Home = pay attention to me?
• Maybe she's not getting enough exercise? We take a 1.2 mile walk in the morning and a .6 mile walk in the evening. I tend to not push these distances because of heat, and I'm always aware of her knee/ACL issues (why we don't run). But, we also walk at 6a and 730-8p, so maybe up the walk distance? On days we go to the park, I also try to review her obedience training.
• Maybe we should sign up for more obedience training? There are some dog training centers close by, and they're not super expensive (roughly $10/class for an eight week class). BUT, until the house sells, I'm watching every penny.

It feels like restless energy that needs to be focused.  But she's my first bebe, so I don't know. Friends with dogs, vets- what do you think? Suggestions?

Revising Milton book proposal chapter synopsis

I recently posted about publishing as a PhD student, and the help we get (and don't get) to prepare us for the world of publishing. One of the things I mentioned was how to prepare for publishing our first (and second, and third) book(s).

My dissertation tracks the character of the devil in English popular literature from 1066 up through Milton's characterization in Paradise Lost, which freezes the characterization. However, I have been taking notes and outlining my next book project as I research and write my dissertation (I know- crazy, and weird, leave me alone). This other project builds out of the first one. It takes the knowledge I have about folklore and historical background and examines how these ideas are forwarded in popular culture. It looks at the unique narrative Milton created about the devil, angels, the war in heaven, and examines how these ideas have been revised and reimagined in popular culture. I am interested in the work these revisions and reimaginings are doing, as well as what these productions say about the historical and cultural moment they were created in.

I welcome thoughts and comments on how this proposal is presented and ways to improve. 

Revising Milton book proposal chapter synopsis

Introduction: Revising Milton

Blake’s famous quote about people knowing their Milton better than their Bible is overused and overquoted in many ways. Despite this fact, few scholarly works look at WHY this is the case. What is it about Milton’s story that makes it the one people choose to revise and reimagine? What is it about Milton’s characterization of Satan that has made it the characterization of the popular imagination? Why has popular culture embraced the concept of a war in heaven? What do the revisions and re imaginings of Milton’s mythology tell us about the historical and cultural moments of these popular culture productions? I argue that part of the reason that Milton’s work has become the basis for these works is because of Milton’s use of folkloric elements and tropes in his narrative. Further, Milton’s work itself can be seen as new folklore. Many folklorists, including Jack Zipes argue that if something is popular it cannot be folklore. However, I argue against this as many popular culture items have become folklore themselves. I argue that  the intertextuality of today’s popular culture creates folklore out of popular culture. Further examining Zipes’ definition that the purpose of these tales was for “people to express the manner in which they perceived and perceive nature and their social order and their wish to satisfy their needs and wants” we can specifically look at aspects of popular culture where a groups needs, wants, and fears are addressed.

The modern day horror film as a reflection of American cultures’ fears and cultural wants has been a focus of recent scholarship, most notably in Projected Fears: Horror Films and American Culture, Horror Film and Psychoanalysis, and Men, Women and Chainsaws. Scholars have also focused on the reimaginings, or revisions of fairy tales and folklore in popular culture. However, there has not been an examination of the legacy of Milton’s work on popular culture, and the work that the forwarding of Milton’s ideas and characters is accomplishing. This work will examine how Milton’s folklore has been revised and reimagined, what these revisions and reimaginings reveal about the historical and cultural moment they were produced in, and what fears, wants, and needs are expressed in these productions.

Chapter 1: Milton’s Satan as Horror Movie Icon

If you were to ask a group of people what their vision of Satan was, they would probably describe one of the following figures: a cartoonish, red skinned horned devil with a forked tail or a well dressed, charming man whose manner and appearance is deceiving. The first portrayal can be traced to the folkloric image of the devil and demons while the second’s predecessor is Milton’s characterization in Paradise Lost. According to Dutheil and Stirling in their introduction to After Satan: Essays in Honour of Neil Forsyth “the post-Paradise Lost Devil in literature” seems to disappear, or “slink into the background, or be relegated to the margins” (4).  I would argue that while this may be true of literature, it is patently untrue in film. In “Popularizing Pandemonium: Milton and the Horror Film”, Brown quotes James B. Twitchell’s statement that “modern monsters have Milton’s Satan as their great progenitor” (85) but this ignores the presence of Satan himself in film.  Satan, his underlings, proxies, and son, in the form of the Anti-Christ, are alive and well and seen throughout modern film, especially the last forty years. Rosemary's Baby (1968), The Exorcist and its sequels (1973, 1977, 1990, 2004, 2005), The Omen (1976, 2006) Prince of Darkness (1987), Spawn (1997), End of Days (1999) and Devil (2010) are only the most prominent films to feature Satan in one form or another. There’s a longer list if you include films that either feature lesser devils or have a humorous bent such as Bedazzled (both the 1967 and 2000 versions), Damn Yankees (1958), South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999), Little Nicky (2000) and Heaven Can Wait (1943, based on the play Birthday by Leslie Bush-Fekete and not to be confused with the 1978 version with Warren Beatty which is actually a remake of Here Comes Mr. Jordan, based on a play titled Heaven Can Wait). Each of these films keeps the character and idea of Satan alive and in the popular mind. More importantly, they continue to forward Milton’s folkloric characterization of Satan. This chapter will examine what the use of this characterization reveals about cultural fears, needs, and wants as well as how these characterizations are reflections of specific historical and cultural moments.

Chapter 2: War in Heaven

Movie such as Prophecy, Legion and Constantine as well television shows such as Supernatural, and the soon to be released Dominion and Constantine, have at their heart the concept that there was a war in heaven, that continues to this day. In the Prophecy movies, Milton’s conception of the hierarchy of heaven and hell, as well as the war in heaven over man’s role is the center of the plot. In Supernatural seasons four through nine have a war in heaven and the rebellion of angels against God and man as the center of their storyline. The soon to be released Dominion on the SYFY network also focuses on a war in heaven. This war is a complete fiction of Milton as is much of the lore of angels and the hierarchies of heaven and hell. What is it about the idea of a war in heaven, of angels that despise mankind, and the absence of God as intervener that appeals to the popular imagination? Why has Milton’s description and hierarchy been adopted as lore or mythology? This chapter examines the issues of power and hierarchy that Milton explored in Paradise Lost and then examines the historical and cultural context of each of these movies and television shows through this lens.

Chapter 3: Lucifer and Death

In his Sandman series, Neil Gaimon takes popular mythological figures and revises them, particularly the characters of Lucifer and Death. In Paradise Lost, Sin is the daughter of Satan, and their child is Death. This chapter will examine both how Gaimon revises Milton’s characterization and what the significance of these revisions are as a reflection of the time they were produced in.

Conclusion:

The impact of Milton’s Paradise Lost has often been viewed through a literary lens. While his impact on popular culture has been received some notice, his use of folkloric figures, and his creation of new mythology has been largely neglected. An interdisciplinary approach to his work, combining folklore, literary studies, and popular culture not only allows us to place his work in context, but also opens up these fields, and other works in a new way. Examining the ways in which Milton’s mythology, his folklore has been revised and reimagined allows us not only to take a fresh look at Paradise Lost but also provides a new approach to popular culture studies.

Publishing Advice for PhD Students

I've been thinking a lot the last couple of weeks about publishing as a PhD student. In the current job market, the phrase "publish or perish" seems like the Sword of Damocles hanging over our heads more so than before. In the current job market, as PhD students, we're expected to publish but there are few guidelines about how we approach this or what a "good" publishing record looks like. In addition, there is little prep about how to prep for publishing your dissertation as a book, the first expectation once you've graduated.

So, while I certainly don't claim any expertise I thought I would share some of the things I've learned.

• Conference papers are not journal articles. Neither are seminar papers for class. If your professors let you, write course papers as journal articles. Express this goal to them, and ask them to give you feedback towards this goal.
• I was taught a great model for getting to a journal article. It may not work for you, but it works for me- Get an idea. Flesh it out into a conference paper. Submit it to a national conference in your field, present it. Take notes on the feedback you get. Use this feedback to go home and do more research. Write it as a journal article.
• One of the things I like about this approach is that YOUR argument remains at the forefront.
• I'm a big fan of having a scholarly blog (obviously, you're reading this). I like it for a few reasons. The first is that it forces me to write all the time. The second is that it's a great way to share your research- post your conference presentations on it, post research ideas or outlines, show your process. This gets your research in one form or another out there, it makes connections to other scholars, and lets you work out some writing/research issues. And finally, it's a paper trail. Posts are time stamped. I tend to post initial ideas, then research, then conference papers for research projects, as well as tangent posts like this. It's an easy way to prevent anyone from claiming credit for your work.
• There's a hierarchy to publishing. Journal articles in peer-reviewed, known journals are what you're aiming for. Three or four  journal articles by graduation seems to be the minimum to be competitive these days. I was advised that no more than two of these should be dissertation chapters. Chapters in edited collections are good- particularly for the networking and contacts you'll make, but they still rate below journal articles. The advice I received was that you shouldn't have more than one of these under your publishing credits.
• There's an ongoing debate going on about Open Access versus paywall journals. There are two sides to this- Open Access will turn up during Google Search, so keep this in mind when choosing article titles. Paywall journals index and come up in library searches. There are more and more strictly online peer-reviewed journals. These are worth checking out as they are usually started by lead scholars in their field. These are a great networking opportunity. However, be aware that this is in some ways a generational divide and hiring committees might not view these as highly as traditional journals, particularly if they're not in your field and don't know the journal/name. 
• I was told that no more than one of these should be on your publishing list. Take it with a grain of salt. I think these journals are worth looking at and knowing about as part of your responsibility as a scholar. I also think that in some ways this depends on your politics.

• Look at the journals you use for research projects, these are most likely the best journals to submit your own work to.
• Be sure to read the author guidelines with a microscope. It's silly to work hard on a project and have it rejected because it doesn't do what was asked of you (just like we expect from our students).
• Check out their reviewer guidelines. While writing reviews does not count as much as published articles, it is a great way to be a part of the conversation of your field, get the latest books in your field, and start professionalizing yourself.
• If you are accepted as a reviewer, read the book as soon as you can, and turn the review around as soon as possible. Do not wait until the final deadline. Be open to revision if asked. If you earn a reputation for being able to turn things around quickly, you'll become their "go-to" person. A reputation as a professional is a good thing to start building.
• If you get a revise and resubmit DO IT. At a SAMLA panel, an editor once said that this was a sign that the editor was willing to work with you, so why would you turn that down? Also, make sure you drop everything to revise and resubmit. You'll get a reputation for a professional work ethic and this will only help you.
• If you get rejected, take a deep breath. I once got a scathing rejection that pretty much told me I had no business in the field. I was devastated. I'm not ashamed to say I cried. I doubted my career choice. And then I set it aside. I came back a couple of weeks later and went over the article submission and made notes based on the feedback to improve. Some rejections or reader's comments may be vitriol. Some may have some valuable feedback. You're never going to learn the difference if you only respond with an emotional response. Try to view it as a way to improve. 
• Ask a professor you trust (in that field) to look at both your submission and the comments. See if they'll work with you on improving it.
• If you're lucky enough to be asked to be a peer reviewer for a journal, remember one simple fact- the piece you're reading is written by a colleague. It is someone in your field. Your job as a reviewer is to give them the help they need to be a part of the conversation in your field. This doesn't mean to recommend acceptance if the article isn't up to snuff. But it does mean that viewing the author as a colleague should color your comments and your tone. There is a way to give constructive criticism without destroying someone or their work (see above). What tone or comments would YOU want to improve your work?
• Ask one of your professors or advisers to share their book proposal(s) with you. Ask about the process of submitting a book proposal or shopping an idea. Once you graduate (and when you're expected to do this) you may not have them as a readily available resource, so take advantage of them while you can. Practice writing a book proposal based on your research and get them to look at it and offer notes.
• Ask them as well about the process of meeting with editors about projects as conferences.

So those are my thoughts. What about you? If you're a PhD student or candidate what advice have your gotten that is good? If you're a scholar, what advise do you have for us?

1st Year of PhD Program Reflection

Last week saw the official end of my first year of my PhD program.
Finals finished, papers submitted, grades for all but one class in.

And I found myself sitting at my computer, and around my house feeling...

Not because I'm not happy with my program, because I am.
Not because I'm not happy with my courses, because I am.
Not because I'm not happy with my progress, because I am.

But because after years of working to get here, it all seemed a little anti-climatic.
Somehow it seemed liked finishing my first year should have been more this











than this...

I guess part of my feeling has to do with not really knowing how all of this works. I put myself through undergrad. I worked full time teaching while earning my Masters in Education. I earned my MA in Literature during summers while working full time. Everything I know about doing well in a PhD program I learned from reading. I have no role models here- both my parents just graduated high school. I'm unclear of whether I'm on the right track or not.
In fact, I'm having coffee with one of my committee members tomorrow because when she asked students if they felt support, I said no when everyone else said yes. And I said no, mainly because I don't know if I'm doing what I need to in order to position myself the best way possible to get finished, get a job, get out.
What does SUCCESS look like in a PhD program?



I went to our department awards. Out of seven PhD graduates, one person had already defended. That timing seems off. Shouldn't you defend before job season? I don't know. I'm making this shit up as I go along. Out of those graduates, the most publications any graduate had was three. Is that the norm? Is more a good thing? What do you need now, today, for the highly competitive job market?








Our PhD program doesn't publish stats. But out of the graduates I saw at our award program, only one has a job for the fall.  That's a 14% placement rate. And those are only the ones that made it this far. I don't know how many started in the cohort. But I do know that so far I know of one person out of our MA/PhD cohort who is leaving. One of my professors this fall said that 2 out of 8 of his PhD program finished, and only 1 (him) is working as a professor.



So, what's next?
Well, I'll be spending the summer reading for comps. And drafting diss chapters.  I'm also turning a conference paper on Grimm and La Llorona and translation on screen into an article. I'm also submitting an article on Mary and the Devil in medieval writing.
In the fall, I'll finish my course work. I'll comp in Methodology/Folklore, Medieval, and Early Modern in February.
I'm focusing next year on getting published in medieval and early modern fields.
I'll defend my thesis prospectus next Spring.

So that's what's next. I just have no idea if that's what's right.

Mother's Day

Holidays after someone has died feel like you're stuck in an awful time loop. Some are worse than others.
Mom died on Valentine's Day 2011.
Today is Mother's Day.

Each of these holidays represent opportunities for you to be ambushed at the grocery store with decorations, overwhelmed by Facebook posts, bamboozled by ads on television. Don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge anyone their happiness, or their pleasant day if that's what they have. But the single line that goes through my head is the line I started saying 15 February 2011 and haven't ceased to say everyday since:

I want my Mommy back. 

Perhaps all of this is hitting me harder this year because I'm selling the house. The house I bought just for Mom. The house where she loved sitting on the porch and reading in the sun. Watching the goings-on of the neighborhood. Playing with Nehi. Making it her own- picking out the paint and where everything went. Knowing that no one could ever kick her out. The house where she died.
And as I finish the first year of my PhD program, there's not a day that goes by where I don't think what a kick she'd get out of all of this. How much she'd love the pictures of Albuquerque, of hearing the stories of people I meet, listening to stories about my students.
I recognize the paradox- I would be unable to do this if she were still alive. I would still be in NC, in that house, taking care of her.
And you know what? As much as I love it here, and love what I'm doing- I would trade it all for one more day with my Mom. One day to tell her I'm sorry, that I wish I'd paid more attention, that if I knew how little time we had I would have done more.
Maybe this year is harder too because at Christmas Dad announced he didn't want any of her stuff and either we needed to take it or he was getting rid of it.
Maybe it's harder because it feels like my last link to her has been severed.
Maybe it's just hard.
Maybe this day, like Valentine's Day is always going to be hard. Maybe it never gets easier. Maybe you never get over this.

There are days where I feel like I'm the only one who cares. Who remembers. Who cries. Who mourns.

I surround myself with pictures of her and us, desperately afraid of forgetting a single thing. I don't want to forget that she used to sleep at the end of my bed when I was little and scared. Or that she always left my bedroom window open, even in winter, so Peter Pan could get in. That she believed in magic. How she never walked a beach without her head bowed down looking for beach class and cool shells- the collection that I have sitting in my living room. How I could always find her in a store by the sound of her bangle bracelets. How her face lit up on Christmas and birthdays. How her answer to almost anything was a hug. And how she'd tickle my neck, making me giggle when she did. The joy she took in the long line of kitties we had, and how much she adored Nehi.  How even as an adult, she would set my coffee maker in the morning and leave me cute Post-Its to start my day. Whenever I told her about a rough day, or issues I had, she was always my biggest champion- ready to charge into a fight to defend me.
She was always so proud of me going to school. Of being a teacher. She would love me being out here. She always said she saw me on a college campus. One specifically with ivy covered buildings. It's hard not to think of her all the time.

There's not a single day that goes by that I don't feel her with me. And that I don't miss her. I wish she was here. I wish I could tell her about my life. I wish I could talk to her. Hug her. Tell her how much I love her.
But I can't. And I never will be able to.
So I look at her pictures. And I pick up and set down all her knick-knacks I have. And I cry. And I envy all the people posting cheerful brunch pictures of them and their mothers today. And I hope that tomorrow is better.

Mommy

The Advice Students Need (that no one seems to tell them)

Every year (usually at the end of the semester) it occurs to me that somewhere there should be a handbook for students on what some of the unwritten rules are about being a good student, and doing well. I hear professors and TAs bemoan this, usually in the form of "They should have learned this already." But I'm a big believer in teaching where your students are not where you think they should be.
These are usually little things, but I notice that they are often the difference between students that excel, and students who flounder.

So here's my list:

• With absences, don't push them. A student with 4 (out of the max of 6) absences a month into the semester is a warning sign. Some professors will not let you know that you're close to being dropped (I email mine) and you could end up dropped from a course at the end of the semester despite the work you've done.
• Read the syllabus. No, seriously, read it. It forms a contract between you and your professor, which means you are responsible for all the information on it.

Personal responsibility is the single biggest thing that defines good students.

• Show you have it. This goes for absences (don't email professors and ask "What did I miss?"). A little professionalism goes a long way.

• Stay on top of your absences, and while it's not required, it's always nice to let your professor know. Notice that you're not making excuses, or expecting them to make allowances, just informing them as a conscientious student. Here's my favorite:

 

Dear Professor Shimabukuro, 

    ​I will not be attending class on -----. I apologize for my nonattendance this week, and I will make efforts to be caught up with the work I will miss in class. I will be in class Monday and ready to start -----.

• And on that note...Professors are not psychic. If you don't understand something, it is your responsibility to seek help. If done in a polite manner with honest intentions professors are more than willing to help.
• Attend office hours. At least once. And not the day before the final paper/project is due.
• If you get a paper back, and you don't understand why you got that grade, make an appointment to see your professor and ask them to go over it with you so you DO understand and can improve on the next one. Notice nowhere in there do I mention anything about asking your grade be changed.
• If you're not doing well on smaller/earlier assignments, don't get nasty the last week of the semester because you don't have the grade you want (see all of the above). Grades are not gifts. They are not decided by Magic 8 Balls, or by where your paper fell on the stairs, or by the dart board in our office. They are earned by the work put in. If you are concerned about your performance, it is your responsibility to use your professor as a resource to improve.

• Let's talk about tone. Professors are human, and how you speak to us makes the difference between helping you, and going the extra mile, and not. USA Today has a great article that I use the first week of class with my students. I like to make the assumption that maybe they just aren't aware.
• Take advantage of extra opportunities the professor offers. Notice extra opportunities not extra credit. If your professor says they'll look at drafts, send them one. If your university has a writing center your professor recommends, go to it. Showing effort and professional responsibility is the difference most of the time between a C student and an A student.
• Show that you care about the work you're doing in the class all semester. Not just the last week of classes when you see what you're grade is going to be. 

So that's my list. I'm sure as soon as I post this I'll come up with more. So tell me, what are the things you wish your students knew that they don't? Looking for honest here, not snarky.

Mary Beats the Devil- drafting

Author's Note: So I feel really good about the close readings, and the supporting research. However, while it all looks very neat and tidy, I'm not sure what the "So What?" question I'm answering is. I want to argue that the devil seen in the mystery plays, saint's legends, and lyrics was the folkloric devil, meant to be visually recognizable to the lay people and that they served a didactic purpose. The Virgin Mary served an adversarial position to the devil, representing the repentance and salvation that was possible for all.
I don't think I'm there yet though, and need to refocus on my argument more, and using the texts and secondary sources to support my argument.

Mary Beats the Devil

The writings of the Cult of Mary and the medieval plays that feature the Virgin Mary provide an insight into how the medieval reader/audience viewed the devil. In these texts, the Virgin Mary is often portrayed as an intercessor, saving unwitting common people who have found themselves at the mercy of, or in a deal with, the devil. Because these texts were aimed at lay people they provide insight into the role of the devil in popular culture of the time. In these works, the devil is often seen as comical, as a marker of difference, although Said’s theory of Other often breaks down when applied, and represents social commentaries. All of these representations illustrate that the devil of medieval writings was the devil of folklore, as he was the devil of the people. The reason why he works as an adversary to the Virgin Mary is because he stands in for the people that were the focus of these writings, his actions and his sins stand in for the wrongful actions and sins of the people.

It was a common  medieval belief that sin came to them through the devil as tempter. This belief was not just the popular belief but was also the theological doctrine. The people’s best defense against the devil was the Virgin Mary and the saints. While the devil sought to drag people into sin and down to hell, it was the job of the Virgin Mary to intercede for them against the devil and it was often the job of the saints to give the people the strength to resist or overcome the devil.  These interactions were seen as “war and the ethics of war” (Taylor 504) where man represented the struggle between the forces of good and evil. The Virgin Mary and the saints interceeded when asked, and  “sometimes they intervened voluntarily to protext a votary whose devotions had won their favor (Taylor 506). Common to these interventions is a genuine desire to repent on the part of the sinner, a devotion to Mary or the saint, a prayer for help, and then a change in the life of the sinner.

The legend of Theophilus is one of the oldest examples of Mary interceding for a human sinner who has signed a contract with the devil. When a new bishop arrives and passes Theophilus over for office, he decides to go to a Jewish sorcerer and seek a solution. The sorcerer summons the devil who asks Theophilus to renounce the Church and all its teachings. Theophilus does so, writing his renouncement out in his own blood, and signing it. In return for this contract the devil places Theophilus back in the bishop’s good graces, regaining his post. Theophilus begins to regret his decision and prays to the Virgin Mary to intercede for him, “Fourty dayes and fourty nyȝt: on hire he criede faste” (Horstmann line 105)(Forty days and forty nights to her he cried fast[1]). Mary answers his prayer, appears to him, and identifies him as a sinner “þou wrechche Man…þou hast him forsake” (Horstmann lines 109-110) (thou wretched man…you have forsaken him (Jesus Christ)). Theophilus asks specifically for Mary to have mercy on him, “haue merci of þis sunfule wrechche” (Horstmann line 113) (have mercy on this sinful wretch). Mary calls on her son, Jesus Christ, as a source of power, stating that “þat was i-bore of me/ And þat þolede deth for sunfule men” (Horstmann lines 120-121)(that was borne of me and that endured death for sinful men) and that interceding with sinners, though Mary is part of what Jesus was supposed to do, “For he was for sunfule Men i-bore” (Horstmann line 127) (For he was for sinful men born). In the legend of Theophilus, the markers for medieval Mary are clearly seen. Theophilus prays to her for her intercession against the devil. He stresses her mercy and his sin. Mary evokes Jesus Christ as the source of her power and is able to negate the contract with the devil because of the grace granted her by her son.

From the thirteenth century forward, the concept of demonic pact became “a favorite theme in sermons, poems, and theater” (82) and that these pacts “became one of the keystones in the demonization of minorities, the transformation of heretics, muslims, and Jews from ignorant souls steeped in error to conscious servants of Satan” (83). In Theophilus’ legend, the go between for Theophilus to make his deal with the devil is the Jewish sorcerer, serving to connect Jews and the devil in the medieval mind. Russell argues that this connection served served political and social agendas (84). Mary as intercessor became a popular trope, with her rescuing people from “rash promises” or “written pacts” (Russell 90). In the thirteenth century Mary becomes Satan’s opponent, (Russell 161) the leader of the forces of good in the war for the world, so these miracle/saint stories pitted the “top teams” of good and evil against one another, one team captained by Mary, the other by Lucifer” (Russell 271).

These illustrations from de Brailes Book of Hours[2] (1240) also demonstrate the main characteristics that defined Mary in the medieval period; the fact that she could intercede for sinners, her ability to beat the devil, and her knowledge of law and contracts. Mary and the devil are also shown as opposing forces, with Mary illustrated in white, while the devil is shaded in dark and red colors. Mary is also shown as larger than the devil, a visual argument that she is more powerful. The devil shown is the folkloric representation; he has horns, is animal in nature and has claws for hands and feet. The focus here is on the unnatural aspect of the devil’s image (Makhov 27) and how this unnatural look serves as a marker of difference, and represents his “alienation from the order of the universe” (Makhov 30). It also serves to present the devil in opposition to Mary through visual rhetoric- she represents law and order while he represents the unnatural, the alien. This representation of the devil is in keeping with other manuscripts where the representation is always “unnatural, awful, terrible, brutal, naughty, ugly, insidious, imbecile” for didactic reasons, so that he would be visually recognizable to lay people (Hundsbichler 55). Usually the proximity of the devil to humans and Christ/the Lord in images is representative of the separation between the devil, and sinners from salvation (Hundsbichler 57). Here, Mary is not shown as separate,  but her large size does emphasize her might against him, and given the fact that this illustration shows an actual battle between the two, you would not expect to see separation. However, “Didactic pictures also capitalize on failures of the devil” (Hundsbichler 67) which serve, along with images that illustrate the devil in proximity to saints and Mary, to mark the devil. Here, it is Mary’s size along with her coloring in symbols of purity and goodness visually represent the devil’s failures.

Mary holds the contract for Theophilus’ soul in her hand, and while the devil is reaching for it, it is clearly in her possession. The contract is the center of the image in both this page (40v) and the following (41v) stressing the importance of the contract, and by extension the legal system. In the following verso page, Mary is illustrated in the same manner as she returns Theophilus’ contract to him. She is again shown in white, with Theophilus shown kneeling, and showing obeisance to Mary. The contract is placed in the center of the image stressing the importance of the legal document. In the 41v the contract is blank, versus 40v where the contract has writing on it. This deleting of the text, the negating of the contract, emphasizes Mary’s power over the devil. “Theophilus's contractual bindings of his soul to Satan while demon scribes furiously record the proceedings bears resemblance to daily scribal activities in the thirteenth century” (Boyarin 80). The legal implications of Mary “snatching the charter away from the devil” and destroying it were an appeal to laypeople, and Mary’s power (Boyarin 81). This legend is key to developing the idea of Mary in medieval times as it proved her “unparalleled power” (Boyarin 47), her ability to face the Devil on equal terms, and her knowledge of the law so she can break the contract (Boyarin 46).

It is worth noting that the role of the Jewish magician as unique in medieval drama- while he is used as a marker of Theophilus's downfall, and is described as evil, the “direct agent” of Theophilus's downfall in the end “the Jew ends up little more than a guide, and he is eventually indistinguishable from the Christian” (Boyarin 55). This ties into the idea that the Jew is often used as a signifier for the devil, and  how the Jew is shown as an example of Mary’s power in saving anyone.

In Play 44 “The Death of Mary” of the York Corpus Christi Plays, Jews ask Mary to intercede for them, “Thou helpe us nowe, thou veray virginne,/ That we may be brought unto blisse” (lines 125-126) (You help us now you true virgin,/ That we may be brought into joy/bliss). A common medieval assumption is shown here, one is that Jews were portrayed as sinners who could only be saved through the intervention of Mary because of their betrayal of Jesus. Mary prays to her son, Jesus Christ, asking him “thou graunte me thy grace” (line 128) (you grant me your grace) emphasizing the fact that Mary’s power comes from him, and also stressing the concept of Mary as a vessel for his power. Mary goes on to call on her son, “I sadly beseke thee” (line 136) (I sadly beseech you) and asks for the power to help this sinner again stressing that she has no power of her own, only what her son grants her.

In the York Corpus Christi plays, as well as the N-Town plays, Jews served a specific dramatic function. As the purpose of these plays was often salvation and conversion, Jews were often used as stand ins as they were deemed natural doubters (Price 444). Because they doubted the virginity of Mary, their doubt and subsequent conversion was seen as an example that all doubters could ultimately be converted to the faith (Price 445). In play 44, the Jews ask for Mary’s intercession, implying that they are sinners, building on period prejudices that all Jews were sinners. This characterization of Jews at this time is reflective of “ a number of interdependent political, religious, and economic trends that made life significantly more difficult for Jewish communities in Europe” (Price 448). While this bias can certainly be read in these plays given the time, it is also possible to read the Jews as stand ins for the common people, acting as ideal witnesses to the Christian faith, and serving as a model, for if they can be saved, so can everyone else (Despres 55).

In Play 45, “The Assumption of the Virgin” from the York Corpus Christi plays, the angels come down from heaven and call Mary out of her tomb to raise her up to heaven. The words they use to describe her are again the markers we see with her intercessions for sinners. They call her “maiden and modir so milde” (line 105) (maiden (virgin) and mother so mild), “chefteyne of chastite” (line 107) (chiefly of chastity), “tabernacle” (line 110), and “chosen childe” (line 114) (chosen child). The concept of Mary as virgin, the emphasis on the purity of her body, and her chosen nature are all the characteristics stressed in Mary intercession stories. Likewise, here again is the stress on Mary as a vessel, a tabernacle, of God/Jesus.

Play 45 focuses on Mary’s body, as both problematic and a symbol of her authority. As referenced in Play 12 “The Annunciation to Mary and the Visitation”, it is because of Mary’s virgin state, her immaculate conception that she is able to bear the Son of God. However, Mary’s characterization in medieval drama is problematic because of her presentation by males, as a “Christian but Jew, mother but virgin, is potentially subversive in the extreme” (Price 457). A focus on Mary’s body is also problematic because it stresses her humanity, and not her role as Queen of Heaven. While it is her humanity that allows her to feel and intercede for human sinners, her assumption presumably erased her humanity as she rose to heaven, so the fact that she still retains human qualities is a problem never resolved in the mystery plays. In her role as Queen of Heaven, her body is also described in language that emphasizes the Virgin Mary as a healer and conduit to Christ.

In the N-Town Plays, the connection between the devil/Lucifer and the law as well as his place as the Adversary is stressed. In Play 1 “The Creation and the Fall of Lucifer”, upon his expulsion from heaven, Lucifer states “At thy byddyng, thy wyl I werke/ And pas fro joy to peyne smerte./ Now I am a devil ful derke/ That was an aungell bryht” (lines 75-78) (At your bidding I work your will, and pass from joy to smarting pain. Now I am a full dark devil that was a bright angel). In the first line, Lucifer is addressing God, stating he will work his will which echoes the language in the Book of Job where Lucifer is the Adversary, part of the Court of Heaven and only works against Job because it is God’s will. Later, in Play 42, “Judgment”, the devils also make reference to legal contracts, “And that on here forehed- wyttness I take,/ For ther is wretyn with letteris blake/ Openly all here synne” (lines 75-78)(And that on her forehead I acted as witness, for there is written in black letters openly all her sins). While the devils here are specifically referencing the sins written on the foreheads of the damned, the language also calls to mind written, legal language. This language is notably absent from the same play in the York Corpus Christi play, where the interaction between God and the devils focuses on their punishment for the evil “wirke” they have done against God (line 222). In the N-Town play it is the voices of the damned that answer the devils, whereas in the York Corpus Christi plays it is God himself who answers them. While Mary does not interact with the devils in the Judgment play we do see the markers of the folkloric devils here, their ability to negotiate, their place in God’s plan, and their association with legal proceedings.

These stage devils reinforce the idea of plays “informing theology” (Cox 407) but that “Devils need not be understood either as exuberant subverters of a hegemonic social order on one hand or as risible examples of failed attempts to challenge cosmic order on the other” (408). Both Lucifer and the lesser demons in the York Corpus Christi plays support this rejection of binary as Lucifer stages himself as part of God’s plan, and while the lesser demons in Judgment Day place themselves more in a legal context rather than a grand cosmic order. Despite this, in the different versions of Judgment Day, the devil was to blame for everything that goes wrong, and it eventually defeated because their role in these mystery plays was to illustrate and “define what the community was not” (Cox 410). Since Lucifer’s fall in Play 1, he is shown as operating both outside of the system, as lesser than God and Jesus and within the system, working God’s will. The function “the devils function as prosecuting attorneys” ties them back to their origin in Job as Adversary as well as identifying them as representing the people (Cox 420).  Lucifer, and the rest of the devils can then be read as “inevitably understood in feudal terms” because they have a specific place within God’s system (Cox 413) which reinforces the concept of the devil as foil representing societal fears. Particularly, the devil’s pride and his revolt against God can be read Cox argues as an indictment of “everyone in the stories who possesses wealth, social prestige, and political power” (414). In this way, the devils of these plays become stand ins for the people, specifically people who sin though covetousness, pride, or lust. This conflation of devils and sinners within the audience supports the theory that the folkloric devil is the representation that the audience would have seen on stage as he was meant to appeal to the people.  The characterization of the lesser devils as clowns was a “response to popular demand” (31) and therefore shows the devil as folk character. Young uses the scholarship of Tiddy to support this, quoting his argument that medieval devils “in actual practice they became buffoons, drawing most of their comica traits from the clowns and devils of the more primitive folk play” (Price 32).

In later Middle English Marian Lyrics[3], we see the characteristics that are markers of Mary’s ability to intercede with sinners. In §59, the prayer to Mary asks for specific help, “Schilde me fro sorwe and tene;/ Marie, out of synne help thu me,” (lines 6-7) (Shield me from sorrow and suffering; Mary help me out of sin). The image of Mary shielding sinners from sin is repeated throughout this lyric; “And schilde us all fro helle pyne” (line 16)(And shield us all from the pain of hell) and “Schilde me” (line 17 and again in line 19). Mary is shielding, or asked to protect these people from hell, wicked company (devils), and from shame. The image of a martial Mary may seem out of place at first, but when examined in light of Mary fighting the devil, it does not seem out of character. While the devil is not specifically mentioned in this lyric, the speaker does mention hell as one of the things that Mary must save him/her from.

In “The Jealous Wife”[4], devils seek to break apart a holy knight and his wife. They influence the woman with their devilry. The woman asks her husband if he loves any other woman more than her. He answers yes, referring to the Virgin Mary. The devils use her sense of betrayal to manipulate her, telling her the knight routinely leaves their bed to seek another, and instructing her to watch him. She does, and sees him leaving every night, in reality to go to the chapel to pray to Mary, but the wife does not know that. She stabs her children and then commits suicide by stabbing herself in the heart. Her husband prays to Mary to intercede for the soul of his wife. Mary intercedes because of the great faith of the man, not because of any action on the part of the wife.

The devils portrayed are the folkloric devils who are “ragyd”, “long tailed”, “sharp clawyd and long nayld” (lines 295-296)(ragged, long tailed, sharp clawed and long nailed). They are also tricksters, beguiling the woman into committing her sins. However, because the knight is holy and dedicated to Mary “prayd Our Lady swyth fast/ Send hym of hyr grace” (lines 278-279) (prayed to Our Lady with faith/Send him some of her grace) Mary comes to his aid. “Thorow the might of meyd Mary,/ That sche come doune from hevyn hy/ Agene the fendys felle” (lines 307-309) (Through the might of maiden/virgin Mary, She that came down from high heaven, against (her) the fiends fell). Mary’s interaction with the devils is described as a “duelle” (line 312), so we again have the martial aspect of Mary. Likewise, her virginity is emphasizes, as is her grace, that the knight prays for. She is also later described as “The quen of heven” (line 319) (The queen of heaven). The text breaks off before we see the salvation of the knight’s wife, but the identifiable pieces of Mary intercession are present in the fragments we have.

Works Cited

Boyarin, Adrienne Williams. Miracles of the Virgin in Medieval England: Law and Jewishness in Marian Legends. Cambridge: D.S Brewer, 2010. Print.

Cox, John D. “The Devil and Society in the English Mystery Plays.” Comparative Drama 28.4 (Winter 1994-95): 407-438. Print.

Davidson, Clifford, ed. The York Corpus Christi Plays. Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications. 2011. Print.

De Brailes. “Hours of the Virgin” 40v, 41v. Book of Hours. London: The British Library MS 49999.

Despres, Denise L. “Immaculate Flesh and the Social Body: Mary and the Jews.” Jewish History 12.1 (Spring, 1998): 47-69. Print.           

Horstmann, Carl, ed. The early South-English legendary, or, Lives of saints: MS Laud 108. New York: C. Scribner & Co. 1887. Web. 2 May 2014.

Hundsbichler, Helmut. “Devils in Visual Proximity.” In Angels, Devils – The Supernatural and its Visual Representation, Edited by Gerhard Jaritz, Budapest, Hungary: Central European University Department of Medieval Studies and Central European UP, 2011.  Print.

Makhov, Alexander. “The Devil’s Image from the Viewpoint of Rhetoric.” In Angels, Devils – The Supernatural and its Visual Representation, Edited by Gerhard Jaritz, Budapest, Hungary: Central European University Department of Medieval Studies and Central European UP, 2011. Print.

Price, Merrall Llewelyn. “Re-membering the Jews: Theatrical Violence in the N-Town Marian Plays.” Comparative Drama 41.4 (Winter 2007-8): 439-463. Print.

Russell, Jeffrey Burton. Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1984. Print.

Shuffleton, George, ed. Codex Ashmole 61: A Compilation of Popular Middle English Verse. Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications. 2008. Print.

Sugano, Douglas. The N-Town Plays. Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications. 2007. Print.

Taylor, Henry O. The Medieval Mind Volume I. New York: MacMillan and Co. 1911. Print.

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[1] All translations are my own

[2] While the manuscript does not include the text of the Theophilus legend, it does include multiple illustrations with annotations beneath the story (Boyarin 75).

[3] Marie moder, wel thee be. Index no. 2119. MS: Bodl. 15834 (Rawlinson liturg. g.2), fols. 4b-6a (late fourteenth century). Editions: B14, no. 122; Stevick, no. 46. The verses occur in the Speculum Christiani (a late-fourteenth-century instructional work, probably by an English Franciscan),

[4] Codex Ashmole 61: A Compilation of Popular Middle English Verse 1479 - 1510