Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index

Record Number: 1457
Author(s)/Creator(s): Cowen , Janet and Jennifer C. Ward
Contributor(s):
Title: Al myn array is bliew, what nedith more?: Signs too visible to read in The Assembly of Ladies
Source: Seeing Gender: Perspectives on Medieval Gender and Sexuality. Gender and Medieval Studies Conference, King's College, London, January 4-6, 2002.. 2002.
Description:
Article Type: Conference Paper Abstract
Subject (See Also): Assembly of Ladies, Middle English Poem Households in Literature
Award Note:
Geographic Area: British Isles
Century: 15
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Abstract: The central action of this anonymous fifteenth-century Middle English poem in love-vision form is the presentation of petitions by a group of women at an audience summoned by a lady of high rank. It is one of the few Middle English poems to contain an authentic title, ‘La semble de dames’, embedded in the concluding narrative framework and encapsulating the central action. This paper had its beginning in discussion between a specialist in medieval literature and a specialist in medieval history about the possible significances of the formal proceedings represented in the poem. It focuses on the paradox apparent in the poem’s depiction of a secular noble household: the discrepancy between ideals of courtly protocols and procedures, suggestive of contemporary reference, and the all-female composition of the household which sets it apart from actual practice. It pays attention to details such as titles, dress, emblems and mottoes, details which at the same time render the structure of the household highly recognisable and act as incongruous and puzzling signs. [Reproduced by permission of the Gender and Medieval Studies Conference Organizers].
Related Resources:
Author's Affiliation: King's College, London;formerly at Goldsmith's College, London.
Conference Info: - , -
Year of Publication: 2002.
Language: English
ISSN/ISBN: Not Available