When we think of the Middle Ages, we often think of damsels in distress, knights in shining armor, and—through these concepts—entrenched and inflexible gender roles. The course will address the common gender stereotypes of medieval romance by looking closely at the ways medieval authors themselves sought to subvert them. We will consider texts written by academically-trained women, texts by men who express their desire to be Christ’s beloved, accounts of a gender-queer sex worker, and of knights and saints whose gender identities defy categorization. We will read these texts alongside modern works of criticism to develop a more complex and expansive understanding of gender across the ages.
- Teacher: James Staples