in

Mechthild's

imagination,

the

soul

in

violent

struggle

against

God

corresponds

to

those

whose

"spitefulness"

afflicts

others

and

themselves.

Further-

more,

those

who

possess

this

character

miss

the

grandeur

of

the

Bridegroom

entirely,

blinded

as

they

are

by

their

sin.

In

this

way,

the

rhetoric

of

the

soul's

struggle

with

God

refers

to

a

resistance

to

the

soul's

own

tendency

to

dullness

and

blindness.

even

though

a

violent

struggle

against

God's

loving

advance

is

not

explicitly

described,

Mechthild's

admonition

implies

that

the

soul

has

a

tendency

to

"fiercely

fend

it

off."

Again

we

find

a

narrative

of

sacred

romance,

in

which

the

soul

struggles

against

but

eventual

submits

to

divine

persuasion.