Saint Catherine through the Lens of Feminism?

Resum

St. Catherine of Alexandria has been defined by modern scholarship as a «Ghost Saint», for the possible identification of her hagiographical figure as a hypostasis of the Late-Antique philosopher, Hypatia of Alexandria. Since Hypatia herself has been often interpreted as a “feminist” or“proto-feminist” icon, one could wonder if and to what extent a Female Studies’ perspective would beuseful to let modern scholars understand Catherine’s figure in herself. The aim of this paper will be to propose some possible interpretations of St. Catherine’s functions through the lens of Female Studies, trying to disentangle in a diachronic approach some of the most significant moments of her literaryand erudite representation, focusing in particular on the key-moment of its early modern reception.