Content Category
Literary Criticism
Abstract/Description
First published in 1895, Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s The Woman’s Bible was a reaction to Stanton’s dissatisfaction with the way women were oppressed in society; she blamed religion—particularly the Bible—for this inequality. Stanton was a prominent suffragist in the early fight for women’s rights, and although her views were often seen as quite radical in her time, her behavior was warranted given the environment of the 19th century world in which she lived. At the time of its publication, The Woman’s Bible was rejected and ridiculed by Stanton’s contemporaries, however, this paper will demonstrate how Stanton’s contribution to early feminist biblical criticism can lead a contemporary audience to give her the praise she deserves. By looking to Stanton’s interpretation of pivotal figures, such as Eve, as well as her method of translating and interpreting sexist biblical passages, Stanton’s most controversial work is vindicated.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Origin of Submission
as part of a class
Faculty Involvement
Dr. Kristine Hansen
Radical Words Then and Now: The Historical and Contemporary Impact of Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s The Woman’s Bible
First published in 1895, Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s The Woman’s Bible was a reaction to Stanton’s dissatisfaction with the way women were oppressed in society; she blamed religion—particularly the Bible—for this inequality. Stanton was a prominent suffragist in the early fight for women’s rights, and although her views were often seen as quite radical in her time, her behavior was warranted given the environment of the 19th century world in which she lived. At the time of its publication, The Woman’s Bible was rejected and ridiculed by Stanton’s contemporaries, however, this paper will demonstrate how Stanton’s contribution to early feminist biblical criticism can lead a contemporary audience to give her the praise she deserves. By looking to Stanton’s interpretation of pivotal figures, such as Eve, as well as her method of translating and interpreting sexist biblical passages, Stanton’s most controversial work is vindicated.