The Role of Women in Medieval Literature - 1344 Words

The assumption of anti-feminism Ã¥ ¤Å¡as become something of an article of faith when interpreting medieval English literature like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Canterbury Tales (Morgan 265). Heng concurs that there are textual assumptions that we now recognize, with the unfair judgment of hindsight, as implicated in a fantasy of textual closure and command, (500). The privilege of hindsight, does, however, offer the opportunity to explore the connections between historical social codes and those embedded in the literature of the corresponding epoch. The seeking, and finding, of misogyny in medieval English literature depends on a skillful critical understanding of textual and contextual factors. These factors include the readers own epoch and experience of gendered identity and gendered textuality. Even hindsight does not proffer some special privilege upon the reader, for some textual circumstances can be interpreted with the truth that transcends moral relativism. When Gawain turns on women and blames them, his actions are unequivocal (Morgan 265). Regardless of whether Gawain himself is a misogynist, and it seems apparent that he is, women feature prominently in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as well as in The Canterbury Tales. The roles of women in these medieval texts is supportive at best; the presence of females serves to bring out the features and highlights of the male protagonists rather than to become solid and self-sustaining beings of their own.Show MoreRelatedWomen As Represented In Society By Anita Kay OPry-Reynolds-Renolds938 Words   |  4 Pages In Men and Women as Represented in Medieval Literature in Society by Anita Kay OPry-Reynolds-Renolds you can find a different way of how women men were supposed to act during the Medieval time period. She finds evidence from different Medieval works of literatures to help support her thesis. 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