Heroic Women from the Old Testament in Middle English Verse

Written in the fifteenth century by anonymous authors, these four Middle English poems demonstrate admiration towards Old Testament Jewish heroines, during a time of anti-semitic sentiment in England. The Storie of Asneth presents her life, from her marriage to Joseph to her conversion and visitation by an angel. The alliterative Pistel of Swete Susan follows the virtuous wife Susannah, as she is falsely accused of adultery by two lecherous elders. The last two tales, excerpted from the fourteenth-century Middle English Metrical Paraphrase of the Old Testament, give contrasting accounts of Hebrew female virtue. The Story of Jephthah and his Daughter narrates Jephthah’s foolish vow that forces him to sacrifice his daughter to God. The Story of Judith details her infiltration, seduction, and slaughter of enemy general Holofernes to save her city. Altogether, these tales celebrate Christian values of piety, chastity, faithfulness, and duty to one’s community. Russell Peck argues that they targeted an audience of aristocratic women.