The idea of devilishly desirable divine servants has been around for millenia. In Proverbs 31, the qualities of a capable wife are described in detail, specifically “A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised”. Proverbs 31 additionally claims that commitment to the Lord is better than charm or beauty, describing charm as “deceitful” and beauty as “vain.”(Prov. 31:30). Piety has always been desirable for a spouse or a partner, and this theme has been expressed throughout documented Christian history. However, as we move away from Proverbs 31 and proceed to later writings, piety gains another layer of meaning. Self-control as is necessary for piety is featured in The Life of Christina of Markyate, but is also present in the recent TV series Fleabag, particularly in the second season. Perhaps the desirability lies not only in closeness to the Lord, but in the self-control it takes for one to be that close to the Lord.
In The Life of Christina of Markyate, we examine the life of a woman who wants nothing more than to live out her days as the wife of the Lord; she was described as having “devoted herself completely as a spouse to Christ the Lord” (The Life of Christina of Markyate, 69). Because of her absolute devotion to her faith, Christina makes a promise to God that she will remain a virgin for life. However, when she flees home and finds herself surrounded by abbots and monks such as Roger, Geoffrey, and an unnamed cleric with similar (if not the same) values as her, such as piety and self-control, she finds it increasingly difficult to hold to her declaration of celibacy. Knowing the connections she has with men such as Roger and Geoffrey later in her life, it is interesting to observe her reluctance for a relationship with men who were not pious and committed to the Lord such as her relationship with the man to whom she was married, Burthred. In the description of this relationship, she is uninterested in this man, but she is willing to marry him for her family and their reputation.
The contrast between this relationship, in which she is relatively uninterested emotionally in Burthred, and the relationships with pious men later in her life, in which she is interested in them emotionally, depicts how people, specifically Christina in this case, can view piety as a desirable characteristic for a partner. Christina was more interested in the pious men later in her life because of their commitment to the Lord and the fact that their commitment ran parallel to her commitment. This commitment brought with it a level of self-control that was unseen in Burthred and which Christina desired in a relationship with a man seeing as how she wished to remain a virgin which would require self-control from both her and her partner. The Life of Christina of Markyate is marked by the theme of piety throughout the entire story, or more specifically self-control through piety, as a sexy and desirable trait for a partner. Most of the men Christina was emtionally involved with were pious and, because she was as well, Christina and each of the men had the self-control they needed to abstain from sex. Season 2 of the show Fleabag explores this idea further.
The show Fleabag follows the witty, irreverent main character, affectionately called Fleabag, as she moves from partner to partner while navigating her own small-business and familial troubles. In season two, her father is getting remarried and invites her and her sister to a dinner party to celebrate. Upon arrival, Fleabag meets the priest who will be officiating her father’s wedding (dubbed the Hot Priest) and the two hit it off. Throughout the following episodes, Fleabag attempts to seduce the Hot Priest and have sex with him, but he continually reaffirms his commitment to the Lord and to the church, thereby declining Fleabag’s advances. However, rather than extinguishing Fleabag’s desire, the Priest’s actions stoke the flame. Fleabag continually notes how his restraint and self-control makes her all the more determined to hook up with him, especially since it’s obvious he has feelings for her as well. She even notes that she has never felt this way about a man before because she had never seen a man show such restraint. Restraint, it can be argued, stems from piety and his commitment to priesthood. Without piety, these traits that Fleabag found to be so enticing and attractive would not be present. In the case of Fleabag and the Hot Priest, piety is sexy.
The desirability of piety and closeness to the Lord has been a persistent theme in storytelling in the Judeo-Christian world, beginning with Proverbs 31 and coming all the way to 2019 with Fleabag. Piety itself can be sexy, as seen in Proverbs 31 and briefly in The Life of Christina, but the self-control and restraint that comes with piety is often found to be sexy, too, as seen in Fleabag. Either way, it is possible to be a sexy saint without purchasing the costume.
No comments:
Post a Comment