Where Have All the Female Hermits Gone?

Thought it was about time to include a woman on the Most Memorable Hermits list and discovered (with the exception of a few within religious orders), it’s hard to find historical records of the female of the species. I could launch into a long, feminist diatribe here, but I won’t – just the basics:

Until the last century, most women were prohibited (legally or culturally) from choosing the circumstances or acquiring the skills necessary to survive independently. (This is still true in some cultures – in the extreme, infractions are punishable by death.)
Women who attempted to free themselves from the bonds of sexual or domestic slavery, in spite of these cultural and political prohibitions, were at best ridiculed, and at worst murdered (as “witches,” for example.)
Ergo, motivated by self-preservation, female hermits have until recently been extremists – maintaining absolute solitude and leaving behind no record of their lives. Smart women – though many were probably also illiterate, since women’s access to education was (and in some cultures still is) restricted.

That said, one of the most memorable fictional hermits of recent years is the anonymous goat woman in Charles Frazier’s Civil War novel Cold Mountain and the 2003 motion picture by the same name. She’ll get the lucky spot as Most Memorable Hermit No. 7. She has no name in the book but is called ”Maddy” in the movie. (Note the mad hermit stigma surfacing again.) Dame Eileen Atkins plays Maddy in the movie (pictured here).

The goat woman gets a bit more coverage in the book. She takes wounded protagonist, Inman (Jude Law in the movie) to her caravan camp, where she lives alone with her goats. (What is this goat thing and hermits?) When talking about a dispute with a man to whom she sells goats, we learn she has occasional dealings with other humans. She keeps a detailed, illustrated journal of her life. Inman ultimately “snoops” in the journal.

Maddy has knowledge of healing herbs with which she dresses Inman’s wounds. (Just the variety of alchemy that got a ”witch” or two burned at the stake.) In the several days Inman spends with Maddy, they get high on laudanum together. She tells him she ran away from a cruel husband to live alone. Inman shares with her his love of Ada to whom he is trying to return. Inman also confesses he barely knows Ada. Ada symbolizes love, home and good; the goat woman symbolizes nature and spirituality. Inman and the goat woman discuss their mutual dissatisfaction with the world. Inman briefly considers the solitary, hermit’s life as a viable alternative to resuming his quest.

I’m on the lookout for real female hermits to add to the list. Recommendations are always welcome.