ABSTRACT
In the opening lines of the Ancrene Wisse, the author describes the relationship of the text he is writing, which represents an outer rule of behavior for his audience and an inner, spiritual rule, described as "charity of a pure heart and clean conscience and true belief' (Savage and Watson 47) . He argues, for the inner rule, that it "riwleth the heorte ant maketh efne ant smethe withure enost ant dole of who in-wit ant of wreiyande" (A W Preface 1 0-1 1 ) [It "rules the heart and makes it even and smooth, without the lumps and hollows of a crooked and accusing conscience" (Savage and Watson 47)] .2 Here, even within his preface, the author is offering a sensual, bodily metaphor for the anchoress to follow in order that she might understand a spiritual, devotional concept. The presence within the anchoritic texts of these sensual, corporeal images which are intended to illuminate for their readers non-physical, religious ideas , is a fascinating, if awkward paradox. Much of what is written by and for the anchoritic mystics is troublesome, of course; from the use of misogynistic metaphors for their female readers to the sexualized and erotic nature of the relationship between the chaste Christian and her lord, these works frequently disrupt modem readers and their expectations of medieval spiritUality.
