“…Early readings of the poem as a Christian allegory tended to argue that she represented divine grace, while more recent readings have been interested in the possibility of female sympathy between the two characters. It is puzzlingly common, however, for critics to ignore or downplay the importance of Sabrina's virginity, even calling her role “maternal” (Shullenberger, 2003, 184, 194), “motherly” (Kendrick, 51), akin to that of a “midwife” (Brogan, 38), or otherwise seeing her as guiding the Lady from immature virginity to wedded chastity. See also Kim; Lewalski, 2005, 80–81.…”