Waiting for the End: Two Case Studies on the Relationship Between Time and Gender in Early Christianity

Abstract

Abstract The present article attempts to discuss the relationship between time and gender in the Acta Pauli et Theclae and the Passio Perpetuae et Felicitatis. By analyzing both the temporal perception in the narrative and the construction of time through a series of narratological devices, I will focus on how specific notions of time that emerged in the early centuries of the Christian era proved to be a key factor in shaping women’s agency. Building on this evidence, I aim to identify a set of key features that may define the relationship between eschatology and the role of women in early Christianity. The figures of Thecla, Perpetua and Felicitas will be analyzed as highly representative case studies of gendered temporality.