Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 5580
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Karras , Ruth Mazo.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: Sex, Money, and Prostitution in Medieval English Culture [both secular and religious literature provide examples of female lust connected with greed, particularly in the case of prostitutes].
  • Source: Desire and Discipline: Sex and Sexuality in the Premodern West.  Edited by Jacqueline Murray and Konrad Eisenbichler.  University of Toronto Press, 1996.  Pages 201 - 216.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Essay
  • Subject (See Also): Economics in Literature Literature- Verse Prostitutes in Literature Sexuality in Literature Women in Literature
  • Geographic Area: British Isles
  • Century: 14- 15
  • Related Resources: "Gerson might also have been a point of reference to refine the claims made by Ruth Mazo Karras in "Sex, Money, and Prostitution in Medieval English Culture". Karras uses mostly literary English sources in order to conclude: "A woman's sexual behaviour that did not conform to the norms was more important than a man's that did not conform, because a woman was defined much more entirely by her sexuality than was a man" (p. 211). This may have been the case for the prostitute in English late medieval literature, but for any male cleric trying to control his own sexuality, his adherence to norms was a central matter in his life." From the review written by Brian McGuire of "Desire and Discipline: Sex and Sexuality in the Premodern West," "Medieval Review" (TMR ID: 96.12.11). [Reproduced by permission of the "Medieval Review."].
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  • Abstract:
  • Author's Affiliation: Temple University
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 1996.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 0802007805
  • Material/Technique :
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