Disabusing Women in the Old French Fabliaux (Currents in Comparative Romance Languages and Literatures)

Disabusing Women In The Old French Fabliaux Provides A Much-needed Reevaluation Of The Role Of Women In The Fabliaux. Spanning The Late Twelfth And Thirteenth Centuries, The Fabliaux Are Short, Ribald Tales Written In Verse By Mostly Anonymous Male Authors. Their Varied Portrayals Of Female Characters Have Traditionally Been Considered Simply Misogynistic. Despite Recent Scholarship Contending That The Fabliaux Are Not As Anti-feminist As Previously Thought, There Has Been Until Now No Full-length Study Of Women In The Fabliaux. Serving As Critics Of Medieval Institutions Such As Courtly Love And Knighthood, Women In Diverse Roles Affirm Their Agency As Subjects Through The Manipulation Of Language. The Depiction Of These Women Asserting Their Subjectivity Within Medieval Literary And Cultural Conventions Often Distorts The Normal Relations Between The Sexes, Putting Into Question The Very Gender Framework Within Which The Fabliaux Operate. Written By Men For Men, The Closing Moral Frequently Serves To Reassert Traditional Male Dominance, Thereby Reducing Any Uneasiness The Audience May Have Felt. Thus The Fabliaux Cast Women As Powerful Users Of Language All The While Acknowledging The Limits Of Their Subversion. - From Publisher's Website. Introduction -- Medieval Views Of Women -- Feminist And Theoretical Discourses -- Chapter One, Defending Women: Women Fighting Against Social Norms -- Exposing Knights -- Surviving The System -- Chapter Two, Designing Women: Women's Use Of Manipulation In The Fabliaux -- Chapter Three, Desiring Women: When Objects Become Subjects -- Conclusion, Defining Women -- Bibliography -- Index. Natalie Muñoz. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 123-134) And Index. __Disabusing Women in the Old French Fabliaux__ Serving as critics of medieval institutions such as courtly love and knighthood, women in diverse roles affirm their agency as subjects through the manipulation of language. The depiction of these women asserting their subjectivity within medieval literary and cultural conventions often distorts the normal relations between the sexes, putting into question the very gender framework within which the fabliaux operate. Written by men for men, the closing moral frequently serves to reassert traditional male dominance, thereby reducing any uneasiness the audience may have felt. Thus the fabliaux cast women as powerful users of language all the while acknowledging the limits of their subversion Cover 1 Contents 9 Introduction 9 11 Medieval Views of Women 21 23 Feminist and Theoretical Discourses 27 29 Chapter One. Defending Women: Women Fighting Against Social Norms 32 34 Exposing Knights 53 55 Surviving in the Systems 63 65 Chapter Two. Designing Women: Women’s Use of Manipulation in the Fabliaux 65 67 Chapter Three. Desiring Women: When Objects Become Subjects 94 96 Conclusion: Defining Women 117 119 Bibliography 123 125 Index 135 137 Spanning the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the fabliaux are short, ribald tales written in verse by mostly anonymous male authors. Disabusing Women in the Old French Fabliaux provides a much-needed reevaluation of the role of women in the fabliaux.