{"product_id":"veiled-desires-maureen-sabine-9780823251667","title":"Veiled Desires: Intimate Portrayals of Nuns in Postwar Anglo-American Film","description":"A provocative, interdisciplinary study of nuns on the big screen, from \u003cem\u003eThe Bells of St. Mary's\u003c\/em\u003e (1945) to \u003cem\u003eDoubt \u003c\/em\u003e(2008), that shines fresh light on the cinematic nun as a woman and a religious in the twentieth century. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIngrid Bergman's engaging screen performance as Sister Mary Benedict in \u003cem\u003eThe Bells of St. Mary's\u003c\/em\u003e made the film nun a star and her character a shining standard of comparison. She represented the religious life as the happy and rewarding choice of a modern woman who had a \"complete understanding\" of both erotic and spiritual desire. How did this vibrant and mature nun figure come to be viewed as girlish and naive? \u003cstrong\u003eWhy have she and her cinematic sisters in postwar popular film so often been stereotyped or selectively analyzed, so seldom been seen as women and religious? \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eVeiled Desires\u003c\/em\u003e--a unique full-length, in-depth study of nuns in film--Maureen Sabine explores these questions in a \u003cstrong\u003egroundbreaking interdisciplinary study covering more than sixty years of cinema\u003c\/strong\u003e. She looks at an impressive breadth of films in which the nun features as an ardent lead character, including \u003cem\u003eThe Bells of St. Mary's \u003c\/em\u003e(1945), \u003cem\u003eBlack Narcissus\u003c\/em\u003e (1947), \u003cem\u003eHeaven Knows, Mr. Allison \u003c\/em\u003e(1957), \u003cem\u003eSea Wife\u003c\/em\u003e (1957), \u003cem\u003eThe Nun's Story \u003c\/em\u003e(1959), \u003cem\u003eThe Sound of Music\u003c\/em\u003e (1965), \u003cem\u003eChange of Habit \u003c\/em\u003e(1969), \u003cem\u003e In This House of Brede\u003c\/em\u003e (1975), \u003cem\u003eAgnes of God\u003c\/em\u003e (1985), \u003cem\u003eDead Man Walking\u003c\/em\u003e (1995), and \u003cem\u003eDoubt\u003c\/em\u003e (2008). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cem\u003eVeiled Desires\u003c\/em\u003e considers how the beautiful and charismatic stars who play chaste nuns, from \u003cstrong\u003eIngrid Bergman\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eAudrey Hepburn\u003c\/strong\u003e to \u003cstrong\u003eSusan Sarandon \u003c\/strong\u003eand \u003cstrong\u003eMeryl Streep\u003c\/strong\u003e, call attention to desires that the veil concealed and the habit was thought to stifle. In a theologically and psychoanalytically informed argument, Sabine responds to the critics who have pigeonholed the film nun as the obedient daughter and religious handmaiden of a patriarchal church, and the respectful audience who revered her as an icon of spiritual perfection. She provides a framework for \u003cstrong\u003ea more complex and holistic picture of nuns on screen by showing how the films dramatize these women's Christian call to serve, sacrifice, and dedicate themselves to God\u003c\/strong\u003e, and their erotic desire for intimacy, agency, achievement, and fulfillment.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Maureen Sabine\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0823251667\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780823251667\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Fordham University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/22\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 352\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.05lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.90d","brand":"Maureen Sabine","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43926556868863,"sku":"9780823251667","price":39.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_4b824e4c-7617-478b-9d80-9afadb27cae0.jpg?v=1681083729","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/veiled-desires-maureen-sabine-9780823251667","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}