Self-Torture and Asceticism in the Semiosis of the Legend About St. Margaret

This paper examines Medieval hagiography about St. Margaret from the viewpoint of self-torture depiction. Suffering, physical pain and humiliation in the form of self-mutilation belong to the basic means of her achieving holiness. Semiosis of the legend reveals an anthropological discourse (psychological and sexual aspect) alongside a purely religious interpretation. Anthropological horizons are hidden behind semiosis with religious intentionality. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that the traditional religious interpretation that St. Margaret underwent self-torture with an effort to resemble the suffering Christ could also be supplemented by other reasons. Following interpretation focuses on the then reality in touch with literary tradition. It shows intertextual connections with the Bible as well as with other medieval and ancient hagiographies. Asceticism as a practice of self-discipline, self-denial, or self-renunciation to achieve a spiritual goal applies in the life of St. Margaret in five ascetic practices: fasting, sexual abstinence, poverty, self-inflicted pain and seclusion. Alongside with topoi, this paper points also to the idiosyncratic motifs, unique in the genre of medieval legends. It notices contrasts and hyperbolization to emphasize heroism of St. Margaret. Practices of medieval female saints are also compared with those of men. Since the lives of saints described in legends were to serve as examples of Christian life, this text also shows a change in Christian life practice – exemplary in the Middle Ages it is today considered to be no longer appropriate.