Karras Argumentative Analysis

I found this source via the syllabus of the University of Memphis’ High Middle Ages Class. Karras utilizes a variety of sources, foreign and English texts, as well as art to name a few to support her article. I believe that this article is accurate because she aptly able to support any kind of argument that she makes with evidence. I believe this text is scholarly because of Karras’ academic background and needed because Karras goes on to expand the understanding of the term “prostitute” for her readers. Karras’ article gives insight into the Christian thought that spread through medieval Europe during the exchange of letters between Heloise and Abelard. Karras describes Christianity as “a religion of conversion, repentance, and forgiveness (3).” Because they made a child out of wedlock, Heloise and Abelard had to seek religious absolution …show more content…
In her article, Karras analyzes what being a prostitute in medieval times meant. Prostitutes could have been people who rather than sell than their bodies for money, do other sinful things such as bask in “pride and “beauty,” instead of “greed” or “lust (12)”. According to Karras, a “whore” could be “a promiscuous woman, one who earned her living by selling sexual favors or simply one whose sexual morals the speaker wished to impugn (5).” Karras, through this article, is helping readers to understand, just how scrutinized women were when it came to purity and morals during the Medieval Ages. Karras’ article further supports the notion of women as deceivers of the Church that is widely coming up throughout research for this paper. The information given by Karras provides the reader a mindset to work with when reading Abelard and Heloise’s correspondences. Karras places the majority of the article’s attention to the most famous harlot of all time: Mary