Voile et secret dans les écrits de la Mère Agnès Arnauld

By analysing the writings of Mother Agnès Arnauld, this paper explores the nuanced symbolism of the veil at Port-Royal, and the type of imagery it inspires. From her Chapelet secret to her later writings, the contradictory values that the veil symbolises – separation and union, concealment and revelation – take on different connotations in relation to the abbess’ spiritual development. The veil’s imagery acquires richness and complexity when compounded by the image of the bottom of the heart as the secret site of inner life, thus conveying both the abbess’s spiritual and psychological attitudes.