Post your response to the question below, or better yet, comment on someone else’s comment!
Medieval Feminism
ENGL 361 and WGST 322 | Spring 2020 | Dr. Myra Seaman
Post your response to the question below, or better yet, comment on someone else’s comment!
A woman whose physical body has been significant in the text was the woman that knight falls in love with in the lai Lanval. The woman is described to be incredibly beautiful and her physical appearance, her actual body, matter a lot to Lanval. When described, the text states that, “she surpassed in beauty the lily and the new rose” (95) and and “her body was very elegant and comely” (100). These clear descriptions of how she looks demonstrates the importance her body places in what Lanval thinks of her. They matter so much that the physical body is the point of comparison that Lanval makes between the woman and Guinevere when Guinevere offers her body to him and he rejects it. Lanval tells the Queen that the other woman is better than her in “body, face, and beauty” (301) again demonstrating the importance of the physical body and its appearance in the eyes of the knight
Lanval was the first text that came to mind for me, too. The fairy lady’s body seems to be one of her most important attributes for the knight. It’s also her most compelling trait, appearing to him first in her shift, exposing part of her body and thus luring him into her tent. Her offering of her body as part of their secret agreement is followed by the aside, “Now Lanval is on the right path!” emphasizing the power her body has on the quality of his life. Like you said, Lanval’s stating that his fairy lady is better in “body, face, and beauty” than Queen Guinevere actually creates the biggest point of contention and strife in the lai which proves the power and importance of the female body in this narrative.
In Equitan, the seneschal’s wife is described as “most beautiful and of very good breeding” (lines 31-32). This comment places an emphasis on the biological purpose of women by directly associating their beauty with producing children. Her description continues, noting her “lovely body and beautiful form,” “bright eyes and a beautiful face, a lovely mouth” and a “well set nose” (lines 33-36). By positioning all of these features (of her face specifically) after her purpose of “breeding,” her beauty becomes less of a characteristic that she has and more of a characteristic that can be passed onto her children. In addition, the use of the word “breeding” emits non-human undertones as though one might breed cattle or another animal. Therefore, these beautiful features are less admired and more desired–it paints her out to be something that you want to obtain.
I think the wife from “Equitan” is an important example because it also shows that the king feels like he is entitled to everything her body offers simply because he wants her. She is a woman married to one of his high stewards and rather than choosing a woman because she is single and can offer him a good relationship, Equitan chooses the wife because he finds her body so attractive.
The wife in Equitan is one example of how women’s bodies were treated. The main conflict of the entire lais relies on the attraction the king has to the seneschal’s wife’s body. She is this femme fatale like figure in the work. It is because of the desire that the king has for her that she ends up dead.
Your connection of the specific features and the reproductive orientation of a woman’s value is really powerful here, Madison.
An important example of the body being of great importance to men is in “Yoncec.” The wife is locked in this tower because she is so beautiful, and the lord wants to keep him to herself. It is similar to Reese’s analysis of “Equitan” in regards to the fact that there is this sense of entitlement to a woman body once a man has laid his claim to her. I think the men In these stories are always so afraid of losing their women because they are so beautiful, and it never acknowledges the idea that perhaps a woman would stay with a man if she were treated well and loved wholly.
I agree with you on the fact that men think they are entitled to a woman’s body and that it is his to do what he wants with it from then on. I think that it’s interesting that the husband in Yonec still manages to have so much control over his wife’s body despite the fact that they never consummated the marriage. I would have thought that the wife would have said something to her husband about this. It just never made sense to me that he wanted to keep his wife from being seen by other men and from being taken from him, but he never showed her any sort of affection or love. It was as if he just cared more about having her as a status symbol than actually having her as a wife.
You say “it is as if,” Grace–I’d take that simile and make it literal, because that is exactly what he is invested in.
I agree with mauerhancb in regards to “Yonec.” I felt a similar way in which it was mentioned that the lord wanted control by having The wife all by himself. These women in the story, “Equitan” are unfortunately treated based on their looks and that alone. It is a shame to see this so clearly in these stories because I know women are more than just something to look at. Women should be treated as a human being and not a piece of candy for men to look at.
Yonec is particularly suggestive because of the way the lady’s body literally changes to reflect her happiness (in love with her hawk-knight) after she’s been so depleted by her marriage and isolation.
One woman that we have encountered through our readings is Medb. One significant part about her is that she knows her feminine body has a certain power over men. She offers her body sexually to Fergus so that he might aid her and Ailill in war, which he does. Medb does not only use her body, but her daughters too in order to persuade men to fight against Cuchulainn. Men endlessly go to war over her promises of having her daughter’s body sexually while also toying with their fragile ego by belittling them. Not only does Medb use her body in terms of sexuality in order to get what she wants, but she also uses it in violent terms. At the end of the Tain, Medb runs into war, physically fighting for what she wants, which is powerful on its own. There are a few women that we have encountered so far that have run into battle fearlessly. Medb does not limit the use of her body to just one thing. She enacts it in whatever way works best in order to achieve her desires.
I think Medb is a perfect example for this question. At the beginning of Horner’s article, she claims that “conventional images of medieval women readers depict them as quietly passive” (95). Like the saint’s life where they are enduring through danger and besting foes in combat, Medb breaks out of conventional norms through her prowess as a warrior and the strength she shows in the war against Cuchulainn. Medb is both active and aggressive throughout The Tain, constantly striving for what she wants in her life and is in control of her own body and agency as a woman.
And her body is central to that expression, Dan–which I think remains implied in your response here.
When reading this prompt, I immediately thought of Deichtine from the Tain. It is through her body that the great hero Cuchulainn is brought to life, not once but three times. Although only two of those times she actually bears the child, she is still mother to it on three separate occasion. She goes through the tragedy of raising a child and losing it, unintentionally bearing a child and miscarrying it to be virgin pure again, and finally carrying Setanta to term. Without Deichtine, the Tain would not have had their great hero, and I think that the story does a wonderful job of recognizing how important her role is.
This is a really interesting perspective! I think Deichtine was really minimized as a character, but you reminded me that she really did suffer a lot of emotional and bodily trauma. It is interesting to see that Cuchulainn, the epitome of “success,” came from so much suffering…
This is a great example! I think women’s bodies are heavily emphasized throughout the Tain’s entirety. There’s a lot of screen time dedicated to Deichtine’s womb, Medb’s “friendly thighs,” and Macha who ends up cursing the men of Ulster to feel the pain of living in a woman’s body when her husband forces her to run a race. I wonder if the particular body parts being emphasized say something about each character. Deichtine is a mother of a hero, her womb is sacred through the (albeit bizarre) process of cleansing it undergoes to carry Setanta. Medb’s thighs represent her desire– not necessarily for sex, but really more for power and being on equal standing with men, being able to spar with them as an equal if not greater power.
I think another take on this view of the treatment of women’s bodies in our readings is the treatment of Silence’s body in Romance of Silence. Silence is born as a beautiful girl but her body is changed into that of a man. Nature constantly talks about Silences body as “her work”. Silence’s body is like a piece of art, and the look of it determines what rights she receives and how she’s treated. She is changed on the outside in order to receive her father’s land, because otherwise she couldn’t. At the end she is just remodeled back, Nature fixes her “work” and reshapes Silence in her original female form, returning to her her looks of beauty from when she was born. Even though it is debatable whether or not Silence is a man, woman, or a different gender we’d recognize today, Silence’s whole story is based on her female body and her male body.
I, too, believe that Silence’s body has great significance over Roman de Silence. Although biologically, Silence was born as a girl and had a female’s body, others’ perception of her as a male gave her certain privileges and assigned roles based solely on her male body. During the middle ages and quite honestly in modern-day society, a woman’s appearance holds a lot of value and the text revolved less on Silence’s gender, but her body.
As a whole, I would say women’s bodies have been seen as idealized. While men do not respect that women deserve to set boundaries with their bodies, they do somehow seem to really respect the female body as an indicator of good character and a significant influence.
I think of the wife in Bisclavret when I think of the treatment of women’s bodies. The wife’s husband bites off her nose, and all of the surrounding men assume that the wolf was justified, before they even knew the related circumstances. While the wife did betray her husband, facial mutilation certainly counts as abuse that can not be justified. No one questioned the wolf’s violent actions; they assumed the woman deserved the change to her body. The noseless-ness transferred from the wife to generations after her. To me this demonstrates the the author recognized the significance of the body. It does not just last a lifetime; effects of abuse affect children and grandchildren.
Throughout the readings, we have seen women’s bodies objectified based on their social standings. This was mainly for the reason that women would be birthing children and carrying on the families, so their statuses were important.
In Lais of Marie de France, in Le Fresne, Gurun fell in love with Le Fresne and wanted to marry her, prompted by admiration for her. But when his guards said that they would not support him unless he married a noble woman, he had to choose Le Codre instead- because she had a noble name. The question of nobility was of utmost importance to Gurun and his advisors. When it was discovered that Le Fresne and Le Codre’s mother was the same woman, and their statuses were the same, Le Codre was thrown out and Le Fresne was chosen again for marriage. This shows that the actual woman was not important at all- it was solely their title. And any women, so long as they had the same title, were interchangeable.
Interestingly, Riley, you point to what most mattered about Le Fresne as being her nobility (or lack thereof). How do you reconcile this with a focus on women’s bodies here? You present them as interchangeable, and that’s valid, but I wonder: how are they, then, distinguished by the poem? Because certainly readers are encouraged to be horrified by Le Fresne’s replacement by her sister, and to celebrate her rightful marriage, in the end.