The Curse of Eve: Female Bodies and Christian Bodies in Heloise’s Third Letter

Abstract

Heloise’s third letter to Abelard has long been considered a sort of end point for the correspondence, even though it is not the last letter in the exchange.¹ Here Heloise abandons the passionate speech of desire that characterizes her first two letters and makes two requests of Abelard: that he explain the origin and authority of monastic foundations for women and that he write a monastic rule appropriate for nuns.

This chapter examines the way in which Heloise uses the material female body to describe authentic religious experience.