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Sacred Folly: A Woman’s Voice in Erasmus’ World
What happens when a woman dares to speak uncomfortable truths? In The Praise of Folly, Erasmus gives us Lady Folly – a sharp-tongued, witty, and captivating speaker who slips between humour and seriousness, charm and challenge. She teases, provokes, moralizes, and, in the end, leads us to something unexpected: a soaring, almost mystical vision of faith.
Lady Folly’s voice is not just entertainment – it raises questions about how femininity, wisdom, and faith were imagined in Christian thought. Her “fool’s mask” hides and reveals at the same time, protecting the speaker while allowing her to say the unsayable.
This mask, worn by both Erasmus’ fictional heroine and many real Renaissance women writers, reflects a paradox at the heart of Christianity: the idea that what seems foolish can contain the deepest truth.