This thesis investigates the usage of the well-used but little researched descriptio puellae, a form of describing women that was used in medieval literature around Europe. The form is regularly...Show moreThis thesis investigates the usage of the well-used but little researched descriptio puellae, a form of describing women that was used in medieval literature around Europe. The form is regularly assumed to be written from top to bottom; starting with the woman's hair and ending with her hips, hands, or sometimes, feet. This thesis looks at how accurate this assumption is and also explores derivative forms of the descriptio puellae, such as the description of male characters (descriptio pueri) and the descriptions of feminine "subversive" characters that do not directly satisfy the feminine standards associated with the medieval status quo.Show less
Le Roman de la Rose de Guillaume de Lorris et de Jean de Meung est une oeuvre très connue du Moyen-Age français. Pourtant, elle a aussi été déclencheur d'une grande discussion littéraire sur la...Show moreLe Roman de la Rose de Guillaume de Lorris et de Jean de Meung est une oeuvre très connue du Moyen-Age français. Pourtant, elle a aussi été déclencheur d'une grande discussion littéraire sur la valeur morale de l'ouvrage. Dans ce mémoire, nous chercherons à trouver les signes de la 'male gaze' dans la partie Jean de Meung du Roman de la Rose, au sein des descriptions féminines qui apparaissent dans l'histoire sous une forme particulière : la descriptio puellae.Show less
This thesis will examine changing gender roles and the ideal of equality in marriage during the Middle Ages using two medieval tales: The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell and Chaucer’s Wife...Show moreThis thesis will examine changing gender roles and the ideal of equality in marriage during the Middle Ages using two medieval tales: The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell and Chaucer’s Wife of Bath’s Tale. In both tales, the figure of the loathly lady is an important character who overthrows traditional gender roles and embodies a new kind of ideal woman. She defies the gender binary by not conforming to her expected gender role and by conveying the message that women want sovereignty over their husbands. The ultimate goal, however, is not for a woman to be superior to a man, but for both to live as equals in marriage. In this thesis I will apply medieval gender theories to both The Wedding if Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle and The Wife of Bath’s Tale in order to show the inferior position that women were expected to take, especially in marriage, and how the loathly lady proposes a new ideal of equality by claiming that what women actually want is to have power themselves.Show less
