The Case for Women in Medieval Culture

Description: Documents a formal "profeminine"--though not "feminist"--tradition in medieval literature, exploring its origins and sustaining arguments. Rooted in the apocryphal biblical book of Esdras, the tradition developed in the high Middle Ages in works such as Marbodus of Rennes's "De muliere bona," Peter Abelard's "Authority and Dignity of Nuns," "The Thrush and the Nightingale," Albertano of Brescia's "Liber consolationis" (the source of Mel), and Jean Le Fevre's "Livre de Leesce."; Blamires assesses Mel, WBP, MerT, and LGW, arguing that Chaucer--unlike Abelard, Christine de Pizan, and others--never presents a fully profeminine perspective. Instead, he either asserts female virtue without providing supporting evidence or playfully exploits it.

Chaucer Subjects: Background and General Criticism.; Tale of Melibee.; Wife of Bath and Her Tale; Merchant and His Tale.; Legend of Good Women.