Medieval Misogyny and the Invention of Western Romantic Love

Author / Editor
Bloch, R. Howard.

Title
Medieval Misogyny and the Invention of Western Romantic Love

Published
Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1991.

Physical Description
ix, 298 pp.

Description
Explores the scriptural roots of medieval attitudes toward women, focusing on how various kinds of abstraction and aestheticizing led to fundamentally misogynistic contradictions. Examines French romances, lays, and lyrics for the ways they elevate women to debase them. A section on PhyT (pp. 101-12) argues that Chaucer's praise of Virginia assaults her in ways similar to Appius's lustful gaze.

Chaucer Subjects
Background and General Criticism.
Physician and His Tale.