This innovative study of the use of gender in the Apocalypse of John pushes against the boundaries of feminist biblical interpretation. Based on sociopolitical and literary readings of texts, it presents a challenging new way of reading the Apocalypse. Using the concept of catharsis, Tina Pippin focuses on two themes central to the Apocalypse--death and desire. She examines the role of the female in fantastic literature and reviews the social construction of gender and of the female body. In this interdisciplinary investigation, Pippin incorporates fantasy theory and the function of the female in the fantastic to expose the Apocalypse's ambiguous representation of women.