Role of Women in Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene
Edmund Spenser in his epic romance, The Faerie Queene, invents and depicts a wide array of female figures. Some of these women, such as Una and Caelia, are generally shown as faithful, virtuous and overall lovely creatures. Other feminine characters, such as Errour, Pride, and Duessa are false, lecherous and evil. This might seem to be the end of Spenser's categorization of women; that they are either good or bad. Yet upon closer examination one finds that Spenser seems to be struggling to portray women more honestly, to depict the "complex reality of woman" (Berger, 92). Spenser does not simply "idealize women or the feminine viewpoint" as he could easily do via characters like Una, but instead attempts to "revise and complicate the traditional male view" of women (Berger, 92, 111). Spenser endeavors to show various female characters, in both powerful and weak roles, and also to emphasize the importance of women in his society. Despite his intentions to give a fair representation, however, it is still obvious that Spenser was influenced by a society with a culture “whose images of woman and love, and whose institutions affecting women and love, were products of the male imagination” (Berger, 91). Throughout The Faerie Queene, Spenser reveals his anxiety about women and their power.
Una, one of the most crucial figures of the first book, is a perfect expression of Spenser's hesitance towards depicting women in a single confining manner. At times Una seems strong and confident, at other times she is shown as weak and helpless. Before their separation, and after their rapprochement, Una is the one who often rescues Redcr...
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...cator 55:1 (1996): 6-9.
Berger, Harry Jr. Revisionary Play: Studies in the Spenserian Dynamics. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1998.
Broaddus, James W. Spenser’s Allegory of Love. London: Associated University Press, 1995.
Craig, Joanne. “’All flesh doth frailtie breed’: Mothers and children in The Faerie Queene. Texas Studies in Literature and Language 42:1 (2000): 16-33.
Spiller, Elizabeth A. “Poetic Parthenogenesis and Spenser’s Idea of Creation in The Faerie Queene.” Studies in English Literature 40:1 (2000): 63-90.
Stapleton, M. L. “’Loue my lewd Pilot’: The Ars Amatoria in The Faerie Queene.” Texas Studies in Literature and Language 40:3 (1998): 328-341.
Villeponteaux, Mary. “Displacing Feminine Authority in The Faerie Queene.” Studies in English Literature 35:1 (1995) Winter 1995: 53-68.
As the poems of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight show, women have always had power, yet not as overt a power as wielded by their masculine counterparts. The only dynamic of women’s power that has changed in the later centuries is that the confines and conditions in which women have wielded their power has become more lax, thus yielding to women more freedom in the expression of their power. The structure, imagery, and theme in the excerpts from Beowulf (lines 744-71) and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (lines 2309-30) support the concept of more power in the later centuries, by contrasting the restriction of Wealhtheow and the power she practices in Beowulf with the Lady’s more direct assertion of power in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight five centuries later.
Murphy, B. & Shirley J. The Literary Encyclopedia. [nl], August 31, 2004. Available at: http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2326. Access on: 22 Aug 2010.
In France’s “Lanval,” Marie de France emphasizes the ideal and pure body of Lanval’s Fairy Queen. France describes the Fairy Queen as “elegant, her hips slim, her neck whiter than snow on a branch, her eyes bright, her face white, a beautiful mouth…” (France, 109). The Fairy Queen is presented to the reader as the classic, ideal beauty that captures the attention and, unknowingly, the mind of her lover. After meeting the Fairy Queen, Lanval pledges his life to her. He states, “There is nothing you might command, within my power, that I would not do, whether foolish or wise. I shall obey your command…” (France, 108). ...
Hale, John K. “Spenser’s Faerie Queene, 1. 11. 52 and 53". Explicator. 53.1 (1994): 6-8.
They were expected to fight in battles and die valiantly, with honor. Meanwhile, women were supposedly caring and kind creatures that could never be evil. They were expected to tend to the children and take care of the house. At the start of the play, the audience is introduced to The Three Witches and as their name suggests, they act abnormally. They are cruel, easy to anger and prefer to live in isolation rather than with other people. Their ill-tempered and cruel nature is evident when the First Witch encountered where the First Witch explains where she was to the other witches. She explains that there was a “sailor’s wife”, (1.3.4-5) who “had chestnuts in her lap and munched and munched and munched”, (1.3.4-5) refusing to share. The First Witch becomes angry and sends a storm out to sea to torment the lady’s husband.
It is often misread that women in Beowulf are presented as compliant to men, displaying them as the weaker gender of the human species. In the world of Beowulf, women serve as peace-weavers, cup-bearers, gift-givers and even monsters, all of which at first glance appear as inferior roles. Many examiners of Beowulf, who have touched on the role of women, have criticized on the words of Gillian R. Overing who believes they are "marginal, excluded figures." Although the women in Beowulf aren't as prominent as men are, they are not "excluded" from the picture as a whole. In fact, the roles these six women presented in Beowulf have, can be compared to real Anglo-Saxon women who held together nations, bring heirs and future generations into the world, all qualities that are necessary for the Anglo-Saxons to continue to strive. Wealhtheow and Hygd play the role of cup-bearer along with the political stance of queen allowing them to have equality among men. Freawaru and Hildeburh are what Anglo-Saxons consider peace-weavers which mend together nations if handled the right way. Then there are Grendel's mother and Modthryth who are described as monsters due to their aggressiveness as women, which is sought to be an unnatural trait that only males should hold. Lastly we have the few unnamed women that play roles similar or equal to the ones mentioned above but with little coverage or knowledge from the author for them to have no name. This essay will go further into the world of women in Beowulf and how their roles play in not only the poem, but also in Anglo-Saxon culture using Seamus Heaney’s translation.
Proponents of the death penalty present a number of reasons for deserved capital punishment. Agencies whose purpose is to deter crime believe that punishing wrongdoers may reduce crimes and save lives. Society has the right to keep murderers from ever killing again and criminals should be held fully responsible for the crimes they commit. Supporters of the death penalty believe that science can be used effectively to free the innocent as well as to identify the guilty. They believe that the justice system receives scrutiny to protect a person charged from injustice. Those that oppose the death penalty also have compelling arguments.
Rollin, Lucy. “Fear of Faerie: Disney and the Elitist Critics.” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly Volume 12. Number 2. 1987. Retrieved 18 Dec. 2013 from < http://muse.jhu .edu/journals/chq/summary/v012/12.2.rollin.html>.
Homelessness is a vast predicament in America and around the world. It is severely overlooked as people don’t really think of homelessness as real world problem. However, there have been ways that people have tried to fix the problem. They have come up with homeless shelters, emergency shelters, food banks and soup kitchens. These solutions have limitations though, which will hopefully come to an end.
Overing, Gillian R. “The Women of Beowulf; A context for Interpretation.” In The Beowulf Reader, edited by Peter S. Baker. New York: Garland Publishing, 2000.
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.
Silver, Carole. Strange and Secret Peoples: Fairies and Victorian Consciousness. New York: Oxford UP, 1999.
Shakespeare, one of the most famous play writers in history, wrote Macbeth in 1606. Many women were not allowed to perform in plays during that time period; however, Shakespeare did have very few females act out roles in his play (Shakespeare: Sample). Shakespeare viewed his women as strong-willed individuals (“Macbeth.” 227 ) when in reality they were often gone unrecognized (Women in Anglo). The character, Lady Macbeth, was a frightening, ambitious woman. Lady Macbeth often wished to “unsex herself” to carry out the killing of King Duncan on her own as her husband showed no manly characteristics to do it. Women during the Anglo-Saxon time period however, were way different then the way Shakespeare viewed his women during his time period.
Social factors have always encouraged the idea that men embody masculinity and women embody femininity and, thus, certain gender-norms are expected accordingly. In the past, such expectations were traditional and to go against them was frowned upon by the general public. Contemporarily speaking, there is more freedom to avail oneself of today than there was once upon a time. Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont’s fairytale adaptation of ‘Beauty and The Beast’ was published in 1740. During this time, men and women were compelled by the social conventions associated with their gender. When analyzing the literary work, the reader can grasp what gender roles are eminent in the characters identity and motives. By exploring the choice of language being
Shakespeare and his works questioned and presented the Elizabethan society, the stage used as a tool to represent larger ideas. Gender in the play is largely linked with morality, sin, redemption, fall and passionate pleasure. In King Lear there is an abuse of power, especially in regards to woman. The devouring feminine, and a fall from grace by the patriarchy ensued through incestuous behaviour, adultery and unnatural relationships leads to a fluidity in gender and generational roles. The violation of the natural order awakens divine retribution, leading to the collapse of the kingdom and chastisement eventually resulting in the rebirth of the patriarchy. In King Lear gender issues resolve from a power struggle, a deviation by the paternal