There are only a few medieval male characters that will be excluded from this list, but they are the exception.
Knowing that the female character can be a wild card in a deck of cards when it comes to her sexuality, and the male character can be guaranteed as robotic, it is easy to conclude that the role of the female character is what makes the world go around in medieval literature. She is the reason why the story exists. She is the one that incites the conflict, creates the plot and keeps the story fresh and exciting. The poor men are just puppets on a string that react to the power of her infinite sexuality. She causes the turmoil that effects the men and cause s him .
to do what he does. She is the only reason why he reacts. As a result, it can be concluded that the unknown and unlimited sexuality of the female is the core and foundation of medieval literature. .
In medieval literature, it is guaranteed that you find women portraying evil characteristics. In medieval text, especially in the fabliaux, that is a part of the character trait of some of the females. In the fabliaux, it is fair to say that her sexuality is intertwined with evilness, deceitfulness and the ability to seduce. "There are at least 19 seducers in the fabliaux" (Gallic 9). The fabliuax doesn't portray just one specific type of woman, but you can find that she uses her sexuality to her advantage to get more than just sex, but for more meaningful results. The fabliaux associate most of its women with having evil characteristics. "The scolding wife, the gossip, and the chatterbox were vilified in the fabliaux" (Three 67).
Females are portrayed in the Fabliaux as having certain distinct characteristics. In "Sir Hate and Lady Hateful", "The Chevalier Who Made Cunts Talk", and "The Miller's Prologue and Tale" medieval women are portrayed in similar ways. Women are imaginative and therefore their thoughts must be controlled.
Many critics view her character as one of the first feminist figures of Medieval Literature. ... She speaks freely of her sexuality and of her dysfunctional marriages. ... She also uses her beauty and sexuality as a tool to get her husbands to obey her. ...
In elaborating upon what is meant by the classical mode as exhibited by the Knights Tale its classicality' consists primarily upon its being set in a classical milieu, and being based upon Boccacios' Romance Teseia, thus not only an example of a pervasive theme characterises the Knights Tale, but also a set of implied conventions of judgement found in the continuity between the Classical model and its revival in Medieval Literature. ... Such elements are not particular to the Canterbury Tales, but useful in terms of recognising how The Knights Tale especially is, in its structure an...
Many critics attribute this to the traditional role of a franklin in medieval times. ... Although the Franklin's Tale presents idealistic love, it is the idea of true love that transcends the pages of literature. ... These medieval working women were few and far between, but this minority is represented in the Wife of Bath as she is apparently a "clooth maker."" ... She is also headstrong and opinionated and seems to wage an independent war on women's position in society by flexing her sexuality as power. Perhaps the first femme fatale, the Wife of Bath truly uses her sexuality ...
Through his literature Geoffrey Chaucer examines and points out the downfalls and/or shortcomings of monks. ... To help establish this comparison it is helpful to learn the history of this vocation, and the basis of becoming and being a monk because there are many differences between monks of today's age, and the monks of the medieval ages. ... "To begin with, the modern notion of religious vocation as a "divine calling" does not apply to medieval monasticism, which is usually determined by societal and familial choice, rather than individual, choice (Hermann 69)." Monks in modern times ...
Literature often holds a mirror to the social, political and economic milieu in which it was created; this could not be truer in Elizabethan times. ... Elizabeth initially struggled to prove her legitimacy as Queen due to her sex, religion and parents, however through a series of calculated speeches, Elizabeth populized the medieval theory of the king's two bodies, constructing an image of herself, exploiting femininity, and simultaneously exerting power reserved for a male monarch. Elizabeth's use of language to describe herself resonates with the way gender, power and sexuality wer...
With the steady stream of vampire novels, movies and television shows being produced, it is pretty clear that the vampire has become a big target of literature (Mayfield 1).Yet this was not always the case because vampires were once considered the creature of. ... Modern notions of gender and sexuality also contributed to the drastic revision that occurred within vampire media in the last twenty-five years. ... This was a popular medieval way of keeping suspected vampires from returning to feed on the blood of the living (Lallanilla 1). ...
But, when looked at in more detail, the tales are found to hold many details that contradict the bland stereotype expected, and when the structure of the work is looked at in its context of 14th century literature, the Canterbury Tales is found to be a work pioneering the form of the epic poem. ... Chaucer's description of the knight is a good example of his subversion of the classic Arthurian image that existed in popular literature of the time[2]. ... In medieval times, certain elements of a person's appearance intrinsically suggested something, if not everything of their character...
In addition, the Gothic tradition in literature, Dark Romanticism and the challenging effects this genre of writing has on human mind, whether for the writer or the reader of horror stories will be debated. ... While many critics suggest that Poe is a post-Gothic writer, he nevertheless used many Gothic conventions in his own work, including medieval settings, supernatural occurrences, terror, and architectural ruins. ... Moreover, Poe is particularly important to the ongoing influence of the Gothic on contemporary literature, moving the genre from an external to an internal psychological focu...
Smith, in medieval theology, Satan entered the victim directly, or by intermediary, such as a witch or wizard causing the victim to act abominably and renounce God (12). In demonological literature, sometimes, the voice of the possessed person changes, sometimes even his or her appearance changes as well (Smith, 15). ... According to the article in Newsweek, the Roman Catholic beliefs and practices about exorcism is that in the past, the church's beliefs about the nature of women and of human sexuality led to the belief that every newborn at the time of baptism with the following ritual...