Abstract

This work is the first of its kind on women in the Book of Mormon. It (1) is an exhaustive treatment of the book's female characters, (2) analyzes how women function in the text, and (3) delineates the text's female-inclusive language. This thesis contains a complete list and discussion of the identifiable women in the Book of Mormon (Chapter 1); provides a compilation and treatment of the book's gender-inclusive language—comprising over 200 words and more than 5,000 references to them—and its bearing on the doctrines and depictions of women in the narrative (Chapter 2); and illustrates the significant influence individual women had on the Nephite-Lamanite-Jaredite civilization (Chapter 3). This study concludes with a chapter that attempts to account for the scarcity of women's stories in the narrative and the minimal knowledge we are provided about them compared to men. Readers will find overwhelming evidence from this thesis that women figure more prominently in the narrative than we often realize. This work offers a compelling argument for the pervasive and powerful presence of women in the Book of Mormon.

Degree

College and Department

Humanities; English

Rights

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