For Hildegard of Bingen, Scivias, Reading 10.4b: In her third point of analysis, Hildegard says that “the mental capacity of mortal humans is insufficient to understand the manifold variations of its poisonous fury and malicious exertions.” What is her rhetorical strategy here? In other words, why does she say this, and what effect does she think it will have on the reader?
What will be an ideal response?
In this passage Hildegard is interpreting her vision of the worm-like monster, the Devil, who attempts to drag humans from the path of God. Her rhetorical strategy is to explain how people fall prey to the deceits of the Devil by showing the invisible evil that attempts to pull them from their course to the celestial regions. The goal is to show that the deceptions of the Devil and his intentions are too much to understand rationally, but, through spiritual progress and insight, one can understand and avoid this terrible monster.
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