Women and Marriage in German Medieval Romance: 74 (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature, Series Number 74)
Cambridge University Press, 4/2/2009
EAN 9780521513357, ISBN10: 0521513359
Hardcover, 274 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English
In contrast to the widespread view that the Middle Ages were a static, unchanging period in which attitudes to women were uniformly negative, D. H. Green argues that around 1200 the conventional relationship between men and women was subject to significant challenge through discussions in the vernacular literature of the period. Hitherto scholarly interest in gender relations in such literature has largely focused on French romance or on literature in English from a later period. By turning the focus on the rich material to be garnered from Germany - the romances Erec, Tristan and Parzival - Professor Green shows how some vernacular writers devised methods to debate and challenge the undoubted antifeminism of the day by presenting a Utopian model, supported by a revision of views by the Church, to contrast with contemporary practice.
Introduction
Part I. The Role of Women
Introduction
1. Women in the Middle Ages
2. Feminisation in the twelfth century
Part II. Marriage and Love
Introduction
3. Erec
4. Tristan
5. Parzival
Conclusion.