Judith Jarvis Thomson

Michelangelo da Caravaggio’s painting Judith Beheading Holofernes examines goodness and purity in spite of engaging in the act of sinning. Painted in c.1598, using oil on canvas, this painting illustrates a scene from the biblical Book of Judith. It depicts three subjects in what appears to be a bed chamber. The middle subject, Judith is portrayed in the act of beheading the Assyrian commander, Holofernes while her maid looks on (fig. I). In this painting, Judith retains her status of purity and…

Since the advent of civilization, society has tended to experiment with codes that regulate human morality in conformance with established norms and expectations (Halperin, 1990). Of particular interests to societal institutions is sexuality, which for the better part of the centuries leading to the 20th century has been governed by codes drawn from religion and civil laws (Foucault, 1979). Society has continuously normalized heterosexism as the appropriate form of sexuality that should be…

told stories from the Bible. “A Portrait of a Lady of the Saxon Court as Judith With the Head of Holofernes”, tells the story of Judith going into the tent of Holofernes and seducing him while he drinks and eventually decapitates him after he falls asleep. During the Renaissance period the depiction of women was a very sexualized and were meant to be paintings that suggested seduction and lust. However, the painting of Judith is the opposite and…

adds that in Book of Judith God is “using sexuality to vanquish the pagan and save the chosen people.” Stocker posits that Judith, as a sensual woman and eventual murderess, violates many moral standards of Judaism (Stocker 3-4). This suggests that Judith should, by all rights, be rejected by her own community; indeed, many texts, including the Torah and most Protestant Bibles, exclude the Book of Judith from their canons. I believe that the Bethulians’ acceptance of Judith in spite of her…

themselves or save themselves from this major downfall in our society. This is such an important topic that should be discussed by many, but is not. It seems that there are very few who are genuinely concerned when compared. In an article written by Judith Resnik entitled; Arbitration, Transparency, and Privatization: Diffusing Disputes: The Public in the Private of Arbitration, the Private of Courts, and the Erasure of Rights, she addresses the court’s stance on all of this and makes it clear…

Judith Beheading Holofernes was painted in 1602, this painting of Judith beheading Holofernes by Caravaggio. Judith is a widow who charms the Assyrian general Holofernes first, then executes him at his camp. The painting was relived in 1950 and is now part of the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica collection located in Rome. Recognizing real Caravaggios is a little more complicated because he has a strange place in the history of art. He was notorious and famous in the 17th century and he enthused…

This painting is one of many versions of the biblical story of Judith beheading Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi, a well-known female painter of the Baroque period. Although she gained acclaim as a painter, few women of her time had the opportunity to become an artist, a privilege afforded to her in part because her father owned a studio and painted, as well. In the Bible, Holofernes, an Assyrian bully and enemy to Israel, slaughtered his way into the city of Bethulia, a town at the entrance…

Growing up in a world where there is so much pressure to be successful, numerous people are frightened of being ostracized for being themselves. As a young child, completely care free, opinions of others or how they might look at me never crossed my mind. But the older we get, conforming to the rules became the norm, a drastic change occurred as a yearning for acceptance grew. In the articles by Bordo, Appiah and Foucault, readers can see a range of views presented as they elaborate further into…

Critical review of the article Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory by Judith Butler Gender is a difficult term to define. Some people might think it is the external characteristics of a person what marks it, others believe it is what it is what you feel inside, and another may hold that is what society imposes them. This critical review examines an article that argues that “gender identity is a performative accomplishment compelled by social…

When I took the AP Language and Composition course my junior year of high school, I scored a three on the exam. As a student who always enjoyed English and did well in the subject, this was a low point, but . However, I still loved literature and knewI still wanted to become an English major at college. That is how I ended up in Dr. Clermont-Ferrand’s “Introduction to English Studies” class. Looking back at my work throughout this course, I noticed that I have a slight preference in applying…