Medieval misogyny and the invention of Western romantic love / R. Howard Bloch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bloch, R. Howard.

Series:

ACLS Humanities E-Book (Series)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Love--History.

Love.

Misogyny--Europe--History.

Misogyny.

Patriarchy--Europe--History.

Patriarchy.

Social history--Medieval, 500-1500.

Social history.

Women--History--Middle Ages, 500-1500.

Women.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ix, 298 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Medieval misogyny & the invention of Western romantic love

Medieval misogyny & the invention of Western romantic love.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1991.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Until now the advent of Western romantic love has been seen as a liberation from-or antidote to-ten centuries of misogyny. In this major contribution to gender studies, R. Howard Bloch demonstrates how similar the ubiquitous antifeminism of medieval times and the romantic idealization of woman actually are. Through analyses of a broad range of patristic and medieval texts, Bloch explores the Christian construction of gender in which the flesh is feminized, the feminine is aestheticized, and aesthetics are condemned in theological terms. Tracing the underlying theme of virginity from the Church Fathers to the courtly poets, Bloch establishes the continuity between early Christian antifeminism and the idealization of woman that emerged in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In conclusion he explains the likely social, economic, and legal causes for the seeming inversion of the terms of misogyny into those of an idealizing tradition of love that exists alongside its earlier avatar until the current era. This startling study will be of great value to students of medieval literature as well as to historians of culture and gender.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Molestiae Nuptiarum and the Yahwist Creation

2. Early Christianity and the Estheticization ofGender

3. "Devil's Gateway" and "Bride ofChrist"

4. The Poetics of Virginity

5. The Old French Lay and the Myriad Modes ofMale Indiscretion

6. The Love Lyric and the Paradox ofPerfection

7. Heiresses and Dowagers: The Power ofWomen to Dispose

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 271-290) and index.

ISBN:

9786612069581

9781282069589

1282069586

9780226059907

0226059901

OCLC:

824153200