Conclusion

Summary

Conclusion: The final chapter sums up the findings of the book as a whole, assessing again whether its literary approach to the subject is productive. I also return to the question of gender, suggesting here that Mary embodies the characteristics (or virtues) of both genders to the extent that she becomes a paradoxical figure. I conclude that she appealed to both female and male devotees, since evidence of successful petitions from both genders survives. Finally, I point the way towards future studies that might follow the methodology that is employed in this book. Other literary genres that deal with the Virgin Mary require examination too; these include histories, chronicles, poetry, epistolography, polemical treatises and others.