In the Middle Ages, books, and verbal stories, were typically didactic in some way whether religious or secular. These sources give modern readers and historians’ insight into gender roles and ideals in the Middle Ages. The Book of the City of Ladies and The Poem of El Cid both informed the medieval readers of the preferred behavior for the sexes via references and archetypes. Christine de Pizan instructed women to be pious, good daughters and wives, and to behave like the saints would; while The Poem of El Cid directed men towards being brave conquerors, loyal vassals, but still pious men. Christine de Pizan’s The Book of the City of Ladies directed its female readers to the ideal female behaviors of her contemporaries. Throughout the …show more content…
The poem portrayed the Cid as an archetypal male, who was meant to be an example. The poem informed the readers that the Cid spent three years reconquering lands from the Moors. The Cid conquered many cities from the Moors and maintained a stronghold at Valencia . At one point, the Cid’s vassal told the king that he had fought five large-scale battles in his name . The poet included long descriptions of the battles and the Cid’s heroisms in order to convince readers to follow in his footsteps. The Cid happened to not only be brave and competent conqueror, but also a loyal vassal to the king, even though he was exiled from the kingdom. On multiple occasions, the Cid sent part of his share of the winnings back to the King in order to demonstrate his loyalty. He did this so that the king knew that he maintained his loyalty even though he had been exiled . The Cid also proved his loyalty to his King when he refused to cut his beard out of love for his King . He was so loyal to his King that not even an enemies blade managed to cut a single hair his whole life.(source) The poet wanted readers to believe that if they behaved as loyally as the Cid, they could also manage surprising feats like the Cid. He had so much love and loyalty for his Lord that he never stayed in one place long if he feared the King may pass by so that he would not have to fight him . This showed readers what a true vassal behaved like, even when he had lost his lords
The Impact of The Kingdom of Matthias on Today’s Gender Roles In The Kingdom of Matthias by Johnson and Wilentz, the authors clearly show the significance that the historical events had on the larger economic, social, and religious changes occurring in the United States during the 1820s and 1830s. Both social hierarchy and gender played a large role in the changes during that time period. The effect of the large differences in gender roles exhibited in the The Kingdom of Matthias is still visible and relevant in America’s society today. Elijah Pierson and Robert Matthews are two people who were both profoundly impacted by the Market Revolution.
Medieval England was considered to be a Patriarchy, due to the serious gender roles which cast men as superior to women. Margery Kempe attempted time and time again to break the boundaries of the gender roles put in place by society. The men in her life tried to stop her, and bring her back to the social norms of what it meant to be a women living in the time period: John Kempe, her priest, Christ etc. To analyze Kempe, it is first important to note what was expected of medieval women; “the classical females are portrayed as vessels of chastity, purity, and goodness” (O’Pry-Reynolds, 37). She was not your typical female; she wanted to break free from the strict expectations of women; “Men and women of the medieval period and medieval literature
Caroline Walker Bynum raised several thought-provoking claims in her book Holy Feast and Holy Fast, but her main argument of the mindset of medieval women with regards to their status in society was the most intriguing. Rather than simply agreeing with most traditional medievalists, she analyzes the male/female difference in terms of which symbols each gender used, and how these symbols tied in to their distinct religious concerns. She maintains that women accepted their place in society and religion, and instead of succumbing to the misogyny, they used their association with the flesh and humanness to connect themselves to the humanity of God. Her arguments regarding medieval women and their practices also implies that she is accepting of the idea of gender as a valuable category of historical analysis.
The role of women in learning and education underwent a gradual change in the Afro-Eurasian world and the Americas between the 11th and 15th centuries. As societies in Africa, Middle East, India, China, Europe, and America grew more complex they created new rights and new restrictions for women. In all regions of the world but the Middle East, society allowed women to maintain education in order to support themselves and their occupations. Women slaves in the Middle East were, however, prized on their intelligence. In Africa, women were trained in culinary arts. In India, women learned how to read and write with the exception of the sacred verses of the Vedas.
Over the course of time, the roles of men and women have changed dramatically. As women have increasingly gained more social recognition, they have also earned more significant roles in society. This change is clearly reflected in many works of literature, one of the most representative of which is Plautus's 191 B.C. drama Pseudolus, in which we meet the prostitute Phoenicium. Although the motivation behind nearly every action in the play, she is glimpsed only briefly, never speaks directly, and earns little respect from the male characters surrounding her, a situation that roughly parallels a woman's role in Roman society of that period. Women of the time, in other words, were to be seen and not heard. Their sole purpose was to please or to benefit men. As time passed, though, women earned more responsibility, allowing them to become stronger and hold more influence. The women who inspired Lope de Vega's early seventeenth-century drama Fuente Ovejuna, for instance, rose up against not only the male officials of their tiny village, but the cruel (male) dictator busy oppressing so much of Spain as a whole. The roles women play in literature have evolved correspondingly, and, by comparing The Epic of Gilgamesh, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and The Wife of Bath's Prologue, we can see that fictional women have just as increasingly as their real-word counterparts used gender differences as weapons against men.
The Wife of Bath's extraordinary prologue gives the reader a dose of what is sometimes missing in early male-written literature: glimpses of female subjectivity. Women in medieval literature are often silent and passive, to the extent that cuckolding is often seen as something one man (the adulterer) does to another (the husband). Eve Sedgwick argues in Between Men that in many literary representations, women are playing pieces or playing fields in struggles between male players. By default it seems, male writers cannot help but create shallow constructions of women; heroism occurs in male spheres of activity, while the wives and daughters make the background, and the female love interest becomes a trophy. Unfortunately, when women are not silent they are often monsters‹and quite often, the silent ones conceal hidden dangers. Why should women present such a threat? Why do so many pre-modern (and, unfortunately, modern) male writers approach female subjects with such trepidation, with strategies of demonization or avoidance? Analysis of the Merchant's Tale and the Manciple's Tale proves fruitful in exploring these questions. In the sphere of the written word, women have often been silent in the West; the small number of great female medieval writers combined with a value system that praises passivity and quiet in their sex has effectively muffled female subjectivity, and yet somehow in silencing women men have doomed themselves to uneasiness and fear. To silence someone is to cut off access to her subjectivity, and in an intimate world like marriage such a formidable barrier quickly becomes a source of apprehension; woman becomes the terrifying, ...
“Culture does not make people. People make culture” said Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian writer and educator, in a presentation on feminism in a TedTalk. The culture in which Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written was misogynistic and it shows in the writing of the poem. Medieval cultural misogyny manifests itself in multiple ways in SGGK. This paper will examine the negative relationships between Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and gender by discussing: the representation of female characters, gendered violence, and Christianity in the Middle Ages.
From the 14th to 17th century, the Renaissance was considered a notable era of great shifts and reformation throughout Europe. From the flourishing of classical sources to the greater accessibility to education, this significant period marked the end of the Dark Ages and the birth of modern history. Yet, despite the Renaissance being an era of immense prosperity and cultural development, it was also a time of extreme societal patriarchy. For most of history, women have remained anonymous figures and have spent centuries struggling to escape the wraths of male dominance. After the upswings of the Renaissance took place, many began to question whether women were included in this notable period of resurgence. While historians have endlessly disputed this great debate, the arguments made could however not challenge nor deny the anonymity and oppression deeply rooted in the way women have been both treated and perceived during this era. Thus, through analyzing the regulations of female versus male sexuality, the ideologies about women presented in literature and philosophy as well as the life of significant female Renaissance figures, it is clear that Renaissance women did not have a period of rebirth, ultimately delaying the future development of feminine hope and emancipation.
Christine De Pizan’s work in The Book of The City of Ladies pioneers a new genre of feminist literature that exposes a time period from the perspective of its female population. Due to this, De Pizan justifiably earns the title of a revolutionary author. However, to say that De Pizan revolutionized the conditions of women in the medieval ages and onward is an overstatement. In her book, De Pizan critiques sexist arguments in order to defend women against misogyny. The change that De Pizan presented in medieval culture was gradual because she was attempting to amend people’s perspectives on women rather than offer any institutional rectifications. She worked to establish that women can be just as mighty as men, and thus, they are not innately inferior. However, her goal was not to ensure that women have equal access to exercise and pursue their virtuous roles. Therefore, if observed
Christine de Pizan’s early life influences her behavioral theories concerning women. She was born in Venice in 1363, and followed her farther to France where she received education and experienced royalty due to his physician consulting skills for King Charles V of
Traditional female characteristics and female unrest are underscored in literary works of the Middle Ages. Although patriarchal views were firmly established back then, traces of female contempt for such beliefs could be found in several popular literary works. Female characters’ opposition to societal norms serves to create humor and wish- fulfillment for female and male audiences to enjoy. “Lanval” by Marie De France and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer both show subversion of patriarchal attitudes by displaying the women in the text as superior or equal to the men. However, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” also incorporates conventional societal ideas by including degradation of women and mistreatment of a wife by her husband.
“Each ought to maintain her proper place in society and, along with this, her particular lifestyle,” writes Christine de Pizan. Described by many as a protofeminist, de Pizan holds true to the modern feminist standing that women deserve more than they are given. In her writing, The Book of the City of the Ladies, she describes six different types of women in society. It is important to look at the time in which she wrote the piece, in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth century— a time when women had no voice. Through extraneous methods, de Pizan forges her own voice and ultimately brings women to be viewed as more than just things. Though de Pizan never argues that women are equal to men in any way, she gives women a place that they belong.
Women in the medieval times were cast into very distinct roles. There was a strict code of conduct that was followed. They were to be submissive to their husbands and follow their lead. A woman’s place was also in the home and the responsibilities of cooking, cleaning, sewing, etc. fell into their domain. Women who deviated from these cultural-set norms made for interesting characters. Chaucer’s use of women and their overstepping their boundaries and typical roles in society make them most memorable.
As a man fascinated with the role of women during the 14th Century, or most commonly known as the Middle Ages, Chaucer makes conclusive evaluations and remarks concerning how women were viewed during this time period. Determined to show that women were not weak and humble because of the male dominance surrounding them, Chaucer sets out to prove that women were a powerful and strong-willed gender. In order to defend this argument, the following characters and their tales will be examined: Griselda from the Clerk's Tale, and the Wife of Bath, narrator to the Wife of Bath's Tale. Using the role of gender within the genres of the Canterbury Tales, exploring each woman's participation in the outcomes of their tales, and comparing and contrasting these two heroines, we will find out how Chaucer broke the mold on medievalist attitudes toward women.
Women were often subjects of intense focus in ancient literary works. In Sarah Pomeroy’s introduction of her text Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves, she writes, “Women pervade nearly every genre of classical literature, yet often the bias of the author distorts the information” (x). It is evident in literature that the social roles of women were more restricted than the roles of men. And since the majority of early literature was written by men, misogyny tends to taint much of it. The female characters are usually given negative traits of deception, temptation, selfishness, and seduction. Women were controlled, contained, and exploited. In early literature, women are seen as objects of possession, forces deadly to men, cunning, passive, shameful, and often less honorable than men. Literature reflects the societal beliefs and attitudes of an era and the consistency of these beliefs and attitudes toward women and the roles women play has endured through the centuries in literature. Women begin at a disadvantage according to these societal definitions. In a world run by competing men, women were viewed as property—prizes of contests, booty of battle and the more power men had over these possessions the more prestigious the man. When reading ancient literature one finds that women are often not only prizes, but they were responsible for luring or seducing men into damnation by using their feminine traits.