AAIS 2017, COLUMBUS, OHIO

April 22, 2017

Eve and the Veil of knowledge

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In the field of Theological studies, a feminist reading of the figure of Eve started a process of re-appropriation of the excluded and maligned female Other. Dante scholars, such as Teodolinda Barolini and Joan Ferrante, have recently proposed a new analysis on some female figures, focusing on re-empowering the female Other by working on the gender binary and the bio-politics deployed in the Divine Comedy. Nonetheless, a similar discourse has not begun yet on the figure of Eve.

This article aims to analyze the figure of Eve in the Divine Comedy and to propose a new feminist reading of her as a herald of knowledge. It attempts to cast a parallel between Eve and Beatrice and their ability to bring a transhuman form of knowledge, unveiling the truth behind God’s boundaries. Focusing on Eve’s appearances in the Comedy and in particular on Purgatory XXIX, it argues that “l’ardimento d’Eva” is identified by Dante as responsible for uncovering the veil of knowledge. Dante proposes the recurrent metaphor of the veil as the physical obstacle that needs to be overcome in order to achieve a higher level of signification. For instance, the ability of the reader to discover the real truth hidden behind his verses. Thus, Eve’s act of rebellion as one who “non sofferse di stare sotto alcun velo” (Purg. XXIX, vv.27), becomes the first act of construction of the human subject as an active subject capable of knowing and not only of being known. That is the difference between an object –as Beatrice’s body is when it’s presented as a source of knowledge covered by a veil- and a subject. Dante, despite the praise of Adam in Paradise XXVI at the expense of Eve, redeems Eve in his verses, by encouraging the reader to commit the same sin of pride by uncovering “il velame de li versi strani”, as she did with the veil imposed by God.