French 320 - Women Defamed, Women Defended

The voices of medieval women juxtaposed with the voices of men seeking to defame them (the antifeminist tradition.) How did women writers of the Middle Ages engage with the conventions and rhetoric of misogyny? To what extent did they question the traditional gender roles of their society? How did they represent female characters in their works, and what do their statements about authorship reveal about their understanding of themselves as champions of women? Readings include the love letters of Héloïse, the lais and fables of Marie de France, the songs of the trobairitz and women trouvères, and the writings of Christine de Pizan, alongside excerpts from the major antifeminist tracts of the Middle Ages. ​