One of the common methods for side-lining women in literature is to leave them nameless. This is the case with the woman in Jerome’s Vita Malchi. However, this woman is also vital to the narrative and the progression of the title character, Malchus. The aim of this study was to assist in giving this important character an identity by examining the many ways in which she is actually named, firstly in terms of the roles assigned to her, and then in terms of the associations that can be made between her and other people and characters from Jerome’s experience. Using a variety of literary techniques, including close-text, intra- and intertextual readings, it was possible to make many such identifications, turning the nameless woman into the nameful woman.
The identifying markers of the nameless woman of Jerome’s
Before beginning this investigation, it is necessary to give a brief outline of the story. The story does not occur chronologically, but actually begins when Jerome, as a young man, meets an old Syrian couple living together in the town of Maronias, and he curiously asks about their special relationship. The old man only then relates the story of his life.
When the reader is first introduced to the woman, she is given the identity marker of
Both Malchus and the nameless woman are further called
The woman’s most basic identifier as ‘woman’ occurs during her younger years as captive and actually appears as two Latin words,
He refers to her as
Another identity marker that the woman is given is that of wife. When she is first reintroduced into the narrative as anything more than a passing reference to a
Her first explicit identification as wife is actually as the wife (
The woman is therefore a wife in affection and shared living quarters but not in the manner of a sexual partnership or procreation, which is an important part of the usually accepted definition of wife. She was such a wife to her previous husband, but as firstly, she has been separated from him, probably for life; secondly, captivity has taught her ascetic chastity which she decides she has no intention of denouncing; and thirdly, Malchus has rejected her as a sexual partner and accepted her instead as something better than a wife, the sexual aspect has been removed from her identity as wife, which means that in a way she is also a not-wife. In addition, Malchus will later reject even their spiritual marriage and hand her over to the virgins (10.3), so she is also a not-wife in that respect.
As part of her suggestion for Malchus and herself to have a spiritual rather than a physical marriage, she suggests that they live together as brother and sister
When one realises that many of her identity markers are as negative as they are positive, and as such that many of the basic characteristics of ‘woman’ are actually removed or nullified for her, one finds that she cannot be a generic woman. In denying her the full range of gender identity markers, Jerome is no doubt intending to pay a compliment and depict her in the best possible light as an ascetic, Christian woman.
With the main identity markers of ‘woman’ removed from her identity, it becomes possible to see other identity markers. It is noticeable that when Malchus addresses his
That she might be the physical embodiment of a part of Malchus is not so far-fetched when one further considers the depiction of the woman and their relationship in the rest of the narrative. The next time they are reported interacting, Malchus has conceived a desire to escape captivity and return to his monastery (7.1–7.3). When he relates his deliberations to the woman and asks her both to flee with him and keep silent, she agrees with everything he says (8.1). He does not even bother to report her actual words but instead indicates her agreement in staccato phrases. From that point (8.2), she ceases to be a separate person in the narrative.
Gray (
In addition to the roles that provide identity markers to the woman, she is also associated with several biblical and literary figures, both positively and negatively, which provide further characterisation. The only figure she is specifically compared to is Elizabeth,
We believe there is also an indirect, but important allusion to Sarah, the wife of Abraham.
Although there is no clear reference or allusion to the virgin Mary in the
The story of this couple is also compared to, or rather contrasted with, the love stories of Aeneas and Dido and Pyramus and Thisbe, the first of which is already well attested.
The nameless woman, also finding herself in an unsanctified relationship with a man, importantly not one of her own making, by contrast, does not commit suicide but instead prevents the suicide of Malchus, and their own deaths at the hands of the master, with her plan for them to live in a chaste marriage. The desire of Dido and Thisbe, driven by erotic love, to marry and live happily ever after with their husbands ends in tragedy for them, but their desired happy ending actually transpires, in an unexpected way, for the woman and Malchus. These associations highlight that the woman’s chaste relationship with Malchus instead saves lives and leads to a long life. This Christian ascetic way of life proves to be a much better option than the lifestyles of the characters of classic Roman literature, or indeed that of the Saracens. The woman is therefore marked as an anti-Dido, and an anti-Thisbe, a direct contrast to pagan Eastern ideals, and instead a representative of chaste Christianity.
But the nameless woman is not only compared to biblical and literary figures;
There are striking parallels between the lives of Malchus and his ‘wife’ and that of Jerome and Paula.
This reading of the now name-full woman suggests a few possibilities for explaining the most confounding element of the
Another wildly different possibility relates to the association of the woman with Paula. Despite the similarities between them, there is one important difference, that is, Jerome and Paula did not move in together, but stayed in their separate monastic communities. We know that Jerome (
From this study, the supposedly nameless woman is found to be anything. Indeed, she has so many names that it is impossible to choose only one for her. From a host of identity markers and associations, both in the positive and in the negative, the woman of the
The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationship(s) that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.
S.L.H. wrote the first half of the article on roles. J.P.K.K. wrote the second half on literary and historical associations. Both authors contributed equally to the editing of the article as a whole. S.L.H. did the styling or formatting of the final document.
Paragraph 1 is a prologue in which Jerome compares this work with a mock battle, a preparation for the real battle, his envisioned composition of a history of the Church. The introduction and the conclusion serve as a frame narrative for the first person account of Malchus (3–10).
All translations from the Latin by the authors.
All references to Jerome’s
See Gray (
See Jerome’s
‘
‘
However, there are also more positive references to
Dido is described as
This was also true of the term
However, see Clark (
See Gray (
Weingarten (
Gray (
This is surprising as Jerome’s antipathy to such marriages was well known (
See Gray (
Although she is never referred to overtly as a mother, even to state whether or not she left any children behind, her previous marriage and the fact that the woman only chooses chastity after her forcible separation from her husband through capture (6.2; 6.7) suggest that motherhood could have been part of her life and one of her identity markers. However, as the procreative aspect of wife has been removed from her identify marker as wife to Malchus, the possible identity marker of mother which a married woman could have is also removed. This makes sense in light of Jerome’s view of motherhood, as he praised women who put the love of God before the love of children (
The brother–sister markers can also be meant in the sense of brother and sister in Christ, having the same heavenly Father and they would stay as such even if they are in separate monastic settlements.
She agrees to flee with him at 8.1, but this is also wifely behaviour.
Gray (
See Arjava (
Jerome is fond of this wording and uses it in
Gray (
While laments are a stock characteristic of both the male and female lovers in ancient novels, the passive suffering which prompts these laments is seen as a traditionally feminine trait (Haynes
Haskins (
She is also no longer an agent in her own right, as noted by Gray (
Even Gray (
Malchus, however, is explicitly compared to Adam, Jacob and Moses and there are strong allusions to Joseph and Daniel. See Kritzinger (
Gray (
Genesis 18:11: ‘
Both Elizabeth and Sarah are described as barren and childless, before they got children at a very old age. Luke 1:7: ‘
The exceptional beauty of Sarah as a young woman is specifically mentioned in Genesis 12:11: ‘
In
The name Abimelech, meaning ‘My father is king’, shares the ‘mlk’ stem with the name ‘Malchus’ and it is perhaps no coincidence.
See also Genesis 20:3–4: Venit autem Deus ad Abimelech per somnium nocte, et ait ille: ‘En
[But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him: “You are going to die, because of the woman you have taken: for she has a husband.” But Abimelech had not touched her and said: “Lord, will you kill an ignorant and innocent nation?”’].
The reference to the Saracens as Ishmaelites in 4.2 reminds the reader of Abraham’s story and also of the story of Joseph who was sold by his brothers to Ishmaelites. See Gray (
We give acknowledgement to D.F. du Plessis who first noted possible similarities between the woman and Mary in an undergraduate assignment for a Latin course taught by one of the authors.
In
The similarities and differences between the three narratives are described in detail in Kritzinger (
Gray (
These parallels have been pointed out by De Vogüé (
See Kelly (
For a summary of the debate on the inconsistency between the couple living together at the beginning of the text, but at the end of their lives, and Malchus’ assertion that on his return to his monastery he handed the woman over to the virgins, see Gray (
See Burrus’ (