ABSTRACT
Our gradual penetration of the convent has finally led to the inmost space of religious retreat: the cell. As indicated in the definitions above, the late seventeenth century inherited and passed on the meaning of cellule current since the time of early Western asceticism. Then, in the early nineteenth century, the word suddenly began to denote a very different site of solitary enclosure: a prison. This dramatic shift in meaning will be explored in the next two chapters. Chapter 5 will begin by considering the multiple meanings of the convent cell on the semantic and the architectural levels. Then, through readings of lesser-known early modern fiction, we will explore representations of forced enclosure and unbridled sexuality: the two main criticisms that gave the convent cell a negative connotation even before it became a prison cell.
