Three Medieval Views of Women: La Contenance des Fames, Le Bien des Fames, Le Blasme des Fames

by Gloria K. Fiero (Editor), Wendy Pfeffer (Editor), Mathé Allain (Editor)

This bilingual edition of three French poems dating from the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries contains two poems that assail the vices of women and a third that lists women's virtues. The lively and amusing verses, translated into English for the first time, are prefaced by essays that set the poems into their linguistic, historical, and literary contexts. Together, the poems and essays provide significant insights into the role of women in the Middle Ages as well as into medieval social history and the history of misogyny.
The pairing of one pro-female poem and two anti-female ones deliberately mirrors the medieval polemic concerning women and the misogynic tradition that had prevailed since antiquity. The essay by Gloria Fiero explores this tradition, in the course of describing the manners, morals, domestic arrangements, occupations, and dress of feudal society. Wendy Pfeffer discusses the language and genre of the poems and provides an account of the existing manuscripts of the texts and their variants. The poems, presented with French and English texts on facing pages, are fully annotated and accompanied by extensive explanatory materials. Fourteen illustrations drawn from contemporary medieval sources complement the topics treated. Included also are a selected reading list and bibliography.

184 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 1989

Reviews

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

These medieval French "dits" provide wonderful insight into how women were viewed in the 13th century (there are two "anti" narratives and one "pro" narrative). The narratives themselves are not long; most of the book is actually background information and copious notes that help the reader appreciate the literature. I really enjoy that the editors included the Old French verses alongside the English translation. I really regret that the editors translated the rhymed Old French into rhymed English, thereby distancing themselves at times from the French expressions. I must admit, however, that the rhymed English reads well enough and will satisfy anyone who does not know how to read the Old French.