Courtly and Uncourtly Views of Women in Middle English Lyric
Between the twelfth and fifteenth century, the form of the lyric was founded in and became very popular within England. Few of the lyrics that were composed remain in existance today. This is mainly due to the fact that these lyrics were transferred orally. This meant they were never printed or published. The ones we do have paint for us a vague but sufficient picture of life as it was in these times. Particularily they give us a peek into the lives of the women of the medieval era and how they were viewed by their patriarchal society. The ways women were portrayed in much of the poetry can be expressed in two broad categories: courtly and uncourtly. The former of these categories developed from the lyrics of the Provenç-al troubadours. The latter is, in relation, a more modern view of women, one that sees them as irritating and stupid. Courtly poetry, as I said, developed from the lyrics of the troubadours. Although there are many similarities, such as the woman’s high status, there are also many dissimilarities. One of the most obvious of these is these poets acceptance of the real world. It is difficult to find references to other women in the troubadours’ poetry let alone other relationships as one would find in
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Luria Hoffmans, Troubadours Nor, , Middle English, courtly poetry, courtly uncourtly, poems woman, women poems, uncourtly poetry, women portrayed, sounds courtly, lurias collection, developed lyrics, women seen,
Approximate Word count = 1854
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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