Stickler, Janna

Terkla, Faculty Advisor, Daniel

Digital Commons @ Illinois Wesleyan University

Illinois Wesleyan UniversityDigital Commons @ IWUJohn Wesley Powell Student ResearchConference 2007, 18th Annual JWP ConferenceApr 14th, 10:00 AM - 11:00 AMA Threat to Male Order: Women Who Go BeyondTheir Place in Medieval SocietyJanna SticklerIllinois Wesleyan UniversityDaniel Terkla, Faculty AdvisorIllinois Wesleyan UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/jwprcThis Event is brought to you for free and open access by The Ames Library, the Andrew W. Mellon Center for Curricular and FacultyDevelopment, the Office of the Provost and the Office of the President. It has been accepted for inclusion in Digital Commons @ IWU bythe faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@iwu.edu.©Copyright is owned by the author of this document.Janna Stickler and Daniel Terkla, Faculty Advisor, "A Threat to Male Order: Women Who Go Beyond Their Place inMedieval Society" (April 14, 2007). John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference. Paper 3.http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/jwprc/2007/oralpres5/3THE JOHN WESLEY POWELL S TUDEN T RESEARCH CONFERENCE - APRIL 2007 Oral Presentation 05.3 A THREAT TO MALE ORDER: WOMEN WHO GO BEYOND THEIR PLACE IN MEDIEVAL SOCIETY Janna Stickler and Daniel Terkla* English Department, Illinois Wesleyan University The subjection of women is a common theme throughout much of history, including the Middle Ages. This topic carries over into many literary works of the time period, such as Heldris de Cornualle' s Silence: A Thirteenth-Century Romance and Chretien de Troyes' Erec and Enide. The female protagonists in these two romances differ from most historical women of their time in that they are both able to briefly exit their feminine spheres and defy men's  expectations of them. As some scholars argue, these unconventional behaviors highlight the strengths that Silence and Enide possess. Other scholars assert that because these women are talented, Silence and Enide challenge the dominant male values that characterize medieval life. Therefore, although Silence and Enide are first viewed in a positive l ight, through their words and actions they become threats to patriarchal values; it is ultimately necessary, then, that S ilence and Enide be returned to the submissive, silent roles to which they, as women, are typically confined. 

A Threat to Male Order: Women Who Go Beyond Their Place in Medieval Society

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A Threat to Male Order: Women Who Go Beyond Their Place in Medieval Society

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