Date of Award
Fall 11-30-2018
Document Type
Honors Project
Degree Name
Bachelor of Liberal Studies
Department
English, Linguistics, and Communication
Department Chair or Program Director
Richards, Gary
First Advisor
Kennedy, Teresa
Major or Concentration
English
Abstract
Beginning with Romance of the Rose by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun in 1269, Medieval authors give allegorical characteristics to women defining what a Medieval woman is, who she should be, and how she should behave. This text becomes a rule book on courtly love and male and female behavior lasting for centuries and is borrowed by authors like Geoffrey Chaucer, who used Romance of the Rose as a reference to question female authority in many of his works. Therefore, it is through an understanding of characters such as the Old Woman from The Romance of the Rose, Criseyde from Troilus and Criseyde, and Alisoun from “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale,” that we are able to shed light on the level of sovereignty women had in the Middle Ages and how they may have achieved that level.
Recommended Citation
Havlin, Olivia, "Interpretations of Female Authority in Medieval Literature" (2018). Student Research Submissions. 310.
https://scholar.umw.edu/student_research/310