The Feminine Personification of Wisdom: A Study of Homer’s Penelope, Cappadocian Macrina, Boethius’ Philosophia and Dante’s Beatrice - Tapa blanda

This study examines the attribution of abstract values to women by analyzing four characters spanning literary genres and more that 2000 years. Penelope, Macrina, Philosophia, and Beatrice are connected by their contribution to the theme of wisdom through their use of reason against passion. Feminine personification of reason and wisdom makes its own contribution as antidote to traditional understanding of "feminine" as "emotional" or "irrational".