the woman during the middle ages. the cosideration of woman the cosideration of woman marriage...
TRANSCRIPT
THE WOMAN DURING
THE MIDDLE AGES
The cosideration of woman
Marriage
Different kinds of woman
The medieval woman in Chaucer’s Prologue
Preamble
the Middle Ages privilege dthe religious codethe Middle Ages privilege dthe religious code
At first God generated Adam
and later he generated Eve from an Adam’s rib
Women were inferior of men
Eve tented Adam
Women are tempters, devilish and a source of perdition for men
Women had to be controlled and leoded
Women were totally dominated by the male members of their family
Women were expected to obey
Marriagethe most important event
in a woman’s life
The choice of the husband was made by the family usually on economic grounds
Once married
She was considered her husband’s property and she had to bear children
There were different
kind of women
The wife
The nun
The businnes woman
Paesant’s wife
Her life was really hard
Silvestro Lega, Portrait of a countrywoman
She shared her husband’s work in the
fields
Wife of a merchantWhen towns began to grow
in size and echonomic importance merchants
began to prosper
The wife was often
his businnes partner
Wife of the landed gentleman
She was busy managing her
household
Nun• They were unmarriagiable
daughter
(expecially in the upper classes)
•They had a good education
Businnes woman
They were emancipated;
They became more active in the workikg life of the cities;
They were indipendent;
They didn’t follow the status quo.
The wife of Bath
THE MEDIEVAL WOMAN IN CHAUCER’S Prologue
THE DIFFERENT FIGURES OF WOMEN
THE WIFE
THE BRIDE
THE MOTHER
THE PRIORESS
THE WIFE OF BATH
– married woman who belongs to the middle class
– “Bold was her face, and handsome; florid too”; “she was gap-toothed”
– “no doubt she knew of all the cures for love, for at that game she was a past mistress”; “in company how she could laugh and joke!”;
THE PRIORESS
– Religious woman
– “attactive lady; well shaped nose; beautiful blue-grey eyes; very small and red tender mouth”
– “her greatest pleasure was in etiquette; most daintly she’d reach for what she ate; …in order to be thought a person well deserving”
SOCIAL STATUS
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
RELATIONS WITH OTHER PEOPLE
THE WIFE THE PRIORESS
Realistic woman, not husband’s property
Ideal woman who comesnear the stereotype of the
Madonna
THE MOTHER
Interested only of the hineritance
THE ENDFRANCESCA FONTANA
TERESA TURCO
ARIANNA ZANCHIN