Feminist Intrigues at the Limits of Schizoid Theology

Once one begins to investigate the intrigue aroused by the lack of feminist concerns in Daly’s manuscript, other intrigues quickly arise. Why did she write this text in the first place? Why did her publisher reject it? Why did she abandon it? Facing these intersecting intrigues, this essay develops the hypothesis that Daly’s central intellectual project – preventing and healing the “splitting” of the Church into polarized factions – mirrored a moment of splitting within her own identity, one that led to her exit from the Church. Moreover, the essay suggests that while the tensions that caused Daly’s theological splitting involved factors such as the women’s movement, Humanae Vitae , a speculative theological method, and a patriarchal church, it was actually the death of her mother that legitimated Daly’s abandonment of this manuscript and release from the sorts of theological and ecclesial engagements it contains.