COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course presents an introduction to the experience of women in the
Middle Ages through close examination of writings by and about women.
In so doing we will be less concerned with the more traditional elements
of medieval history and more interested in how such elements came to shape
women's lives and opportunities. One of the central themes will be
the importance of gender as a category of cultural difference; with this
in mind we will spend a fair amount of time considering the ways in which
medieval society defined femininity, appropriate female behavior, and the
female body, as well as the ways in which those definitions and understandings
changed over time. Among the two paradigms to be considered will
be the two most common and paradoxical medieval understandings of women:
as "daughters of Eve" women were inherently sinful and inferior, but as
"sisters of Mary" women shared in the virtues and special status of the
Virgin. A second organizing principle will be the importance of the
"family" as the central social institution in the construction of medieval
ideas about womanhood. Thus we will examine the ways in which the
shape of the family changed over the period 500-1500 and the impact of
such changes on women's power, ability to work, religious experiences,
and cultural opportunities. Third, since in the Middle Ages, as now,
women and femininity were understood and culturally defined only in relation
to men and masculinity, we will also spend some time comparing female experience
with the experience of men. Fourth, we will examine the changing
role of Christianity in shaping both women's lives and spirituality.
In our exploration of these themes we will depend upon analysis of significant
primary sources about women and femininity written both by men and by women.