Morianton's maidservant is an unnamed woman mentioned in the

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, first published in 1830 by Joseph Smith as ''The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi''. The book is one of ...

, a religious text of the

Latter Day Saint Movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by ...

. In the Book of Mormon narrative, Morianton is a

Nephite In the Book of Mormon, the Nephites () are one of four groups (along with the Lamanites, Jaredites, and Mulekites) said to have settled in the ancient Americas. The term is used throughout the Book of Mormon to describe the religious, poli ...

insurrectionist. After he cruelly beats his maidservant, she escapes his camp and discloses Morianton's plans to Nephite military leader

Captain Moroni According to the Book of Mormon, Captain Moroni was an important Nephite military commander who lived during the first century BC. He is first mentioned in the Book of Alma as "the chief captain over the Nephites." Captain Moroni is presented as ...

. The maidservant's information becomes vital to Moroni's military success against Morianton. A commentary called her becoming a spy as a

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

survivor "one of the bravest actions in all of the Book of Mormon". Morianton's maidservant has been depicted in media works about Book of Mormon content a few times, including in a painting by the artist

Minerva Teichert Minerva Bernetta Kohlhepp Teichert (August 28, 1888 – May 3, 1976) was a 20th-century American artist who painted Western and Mormon subjects, including murals of scenes from the Book of Mormon. She received her art education from the Art I ...

Background

In the

, a land dispute emerges between

Nephites In the Book of Mormon, the Nephites () are one of four groups (along with the Lamanites, Jaredites, and Mulekites) said to have settled in the ancient Americas. The term is used throughout the Book of Mormon to describe the religious, politi ...

in the city of Lehi and the land of Morianton, the latter led by a man named Morianton. The inhabitants of Lehi appeal to Nephite military leader

for help. Not prevailing in the dispute, Morianton and his followers become dissenters and make plans to depart from the region and move northward. This threatens to repeat a pattern from earlier in the Book of Mormon in which Nephite dissenters leave Nephite lands only to later return and wage war on their former countrymen.

Synopsis

There appears in

Alma Alma or ALMA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film * ''Alma'', an upcoming film by Sally Potter * ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922 * ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017 * ''Alma'' ( ...

50:30–31 an unnamed female servant of Morianton, called "one of his maid servants". While angry with her, Morianton wrongfully and severely beats her. Retaliating against Morianton, the maidservant escapes his camp and goes to Moroni. Acting as a spy at the risk of her life, she tells Moroni about Morianton's plans to go north. Thanks to the maidservant's

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

, Moroni succeeds against Morianton.. When Morianton and his followers flee north, a Nephite army led by

Teancum According to the Book of Mormon, Teancum () was a Nephite military leader. He is described in the Book of Alma between Alma 50:35 and Alma 62:40 (inclusive). According to LDS teachings, he is known for the assassinations of King Amalickiah and th ...

cuts them off. Morianton's maidservant does not appear again in the Book of Mormon.

Interpretation

In a commentary, Fatimah Salleh and Margaret Olsen Hemming call Morianton's maidservant " e hero of this story" and aver that being a "servant, a woman, and a survivor of abuse all put her on one of the lowest levels of the social caste system, making her decision to become a spy one of the bravest actions in all of the Book of Mormon".. A

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

scriptural interpretation by Lynn Matthews Anderson describes the account of Morianton's maidservant as one of the only Book of Mormon arcs in which a woman "act in anything other than tightly-defined or constrained circumstances", though Anderson laments that the maidservant nevertheless appears "as a victim of male brutality". Religious studies scholar Grant Hardy interprets the sequence as a "cautionary tale about the consequences of

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

theologian John Christopher Thomas writes that the abuse Morianton's maidservant suffers and her crucial role in Moroni's success both make her a "sympathetic figure" in the Book of Mormon; he argues that "the reader is left wanting to know more about her" because "she disappears from the narrative, receiving neither further mention nor praise for her role".

Depictions

There are relatively few artworks of Morianton's maidservant. American artist

's ''Morianton's Maidservant'', created around 1949–1951, is an oil on

masonite Masonite board Back side of a masonite board Isorel, Quartrboard, Masonite Corporation, Masonite, also called Quartboard or pressboard, is a type of engineered wood made of steam-cooked and pressure-molded wood or paper fibers. The fibers ...

painting measuring 36 by 48 inches. According to art historian Marian Ashby Johnson, Teichert's use of lighting in the work creates a "strong emphasis" with "firelight as a radiant exclamation point to the girl's message". The painting is displayed in the Joseph Smith Building at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

. Morianton's maidservant appears as a

non-player character A non-player character (NPC) is a character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster (or referee) rather than by a ...

in the 2015

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

''The Servant of Teancum''. The player must escort her to Moroni's camp..

Notes

Citations

References

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External links

{{Wikisource, Book_of_Mormon_(1981)/Alma#50:30, Alma 50:30–31
"Morianton's Maidservant Archives" of the Book of Mormon Art Catalog
Book of Mormon people Mormonism and women Heroes in mythology and legend Domestic violence