ABSTRACT
In the preceding chapters we have observed the biblical heroine Judith as she was reappropriated and reimagined by early modern writers and preachers. Jean Molinet gives us a startlingly audacious champion, but one who is only temporarily so, for Molinet insists on the fleeting nature of Judith’s valiant enterprise. Guillaume de Salluste du Bartas paints for us a portrait of a near-goddess whose beauty is so arresting that men are spellbound and immobilized at the sight of her. Gabrielle de Coignard fashions a particularly pious woman who reflects her own religious convictions and ambitions. Pierre Heyns puts before us a figure, more allegory than human, who models exemplary behavior, one whose fearsome, awesome deeds are hidden behind a veil of words. Judith was a significant presence in early modern French sermons, too, but the preachers who wrote that version of Judith, or rather those versions, were exceedingly selective when referring to her actions, even to her characteristics, delicately choosing particular aspects of the old testament personage to praise or, at times, to criticize.
