As I mentioned in class the other day, I have been enjoying the parallels between the women of Parzival and in the Gawain myths, particularly Dame Ragnelle. While these ideas are not as fully fleshed out as I would like, I am hoping that this post will encourage commentary on the women who have been (intentionally) left out of this comparison.
We begin with Dame Ragnelle before the transformation, who was "so fowlle and horyble/ she had two tethe on every syde/ as borys tuskes, I wolle nott hyde,/ of lengthe a large handfulle/ the one tusk went up and the other doun" (Ln. 547-551). This description of a woman with tusks is remarkably similar to the description of Cundrie, "her nose was like a dog's and to the length of several spans a pair of tusks jutted from her jaws" (163). What is remarkable here is not that medieval women apparently were predisposed to having faces like walruses, but that in both of these cases the tusks were simply not enough. As Professor W mentioned, they were a span, a hand length, at least in length, Ragnelle's a large handful and Cundrie's several hand spans. I began to wonder what the purpose of the demonization of these women in this way was, and all I could determine was that to have tusks would impair the use of one's mouths, distort the ability to eat, to speak and to kiss, all things that the average lady would be expected to do with grace. Tusks would definitely prevent that.
After Dame Ragnelle was transformed, there is little to be said of her. We know that she becomes a beautiful as she before was ugly, but what the author notes is that her personality seems to change. As she is now beautiful, it is easier to see that instead of being confrontational, as she was with Arthur, she becomes the paragon of femininity. She is described at "the fayrest Lady of alle Englond," which puts here even above Queen G (Ln. 826). She only has a few years with Gawain before she dies, but during that time "in her lyfe she grevyd hym nevere; therfor was nevere woman to hym lever," which is part of what makes her the fairest of them all (Ln. 823-4). Her devotion to him, her ability to keep him happy, her loving spirit and ideal femininity all are a part of what makes her the pinnacle of women in the Gawain cycle, the one that assures that while "Gawen was weddyd oft in his days; butt so welle he nevere lovyd woman always" (Ln.832-3).
Queen Belacane gets a brief amount of time with her wandering knight as well, before he leaves her. In doing so, Gahmuret achieves what the storyteller of Dame Ragnelle does, preserves her in the mind of the hero (and the readers) as she last was , young and beautiful. Belacane represents the ideal woman as the story begins, her only flaw being her faith. But she is described by Gahmuret as "although she was an infidel, a more affectionate spirit of womanliness had never stolen over a woman's heart...her modest ways were a pure baptism, as was the rain that fell on her--the flood descending from her eyes down to her sabled breast...her pleasures in life were devotion to sorrow and grief's true doctrine" (27). Though she is an infidel, though her breast is sable, she is still the pinnacle of femininity in the eyes of young Gahmuret, and while he may leave her, and while he may find plenty of other women, we hope that he always longs for her as Gawain does for Ragnelle.
We begin with Dame Ragnelle before the transformation, who was "so fowlle and horyble/ she had two tethe on every syde/ as borys tuskes, I wolle nott hyde,/ of lengthe a large handfulle/ the one tusk went up and the other doun" (Ln. 547-551). This description of a woman with tusks is remarkably similar to the description of Cundrie, "her nose was like a dog's and to the length of several spans a pair of tusks jutted from her jaws" (163). What is remarkable here is not that medieval women apparently were predisposed to having faces like walruses, but that in both of these cases the tusks were simply not enough. As Professor W mentioned, they were a span, a hand length, at least in length, Ragnelle's a large handful and Cundrie's several hand spans. I began to wonder what the purpose of the demonization of these women in this way was, and all I could determine was that to have tusks would impair the use of one's mouths, distort the ability to eat, to speak and to kiss, all things that the average lady would be expected to do with grace. Tusks would definitely prevent that.
After Dame Ragnelle was transformed, there is little to be said of her. We know that she becomes a beautiful as she before was ugly, but what the author notes is that her personality seems to change. As she is now beautiful, it is easier to see that instead of being confrontational, as she was with Arthur, she becomes the paragon of femininity. She is described at "the fayrest Lady of alle Englond," which puts here even above Queen G (Ln. 826). She only has a few years with Gawain before she dies, but during that time "in her lyfe she grevyd hym nevere; therfor was nevere woman to hym lever," which is part of what makes her the fairest of them all (Ln. 823-4). Her devotion to him, her ability to keep him happy, her loving spirit and ideal femininity all are a part of what makes her the pinnacle of women in the Gawain cycle, the one that assures that while "Gawen was weddyd oft in his days; butt so welle he nevere lovyd woman always" (Ln.832-3).
Queen Belacane gets a brief amount of time with her wandering knight as well, before he leaves her. In doing so, Gahmuret achieves what the storyteller of Dame Ragnelle does, preserves her in the mind of the hero (and the readers) as she last was , young and beautiful. Belacane represents the ideal woman as the story begins, her only flaw being her faith. But she is described by Gahmuret as "although she was an infidel, a more affectionate spirit of womanliness had never stolen over a woman's heart...her modest ways were a pure baptism, as was the rain that fell on her--the flood descending from her eyes down to her sabled breast...her pleasures in life were devotion to sorrow and grief's true doctrine" (27). Though she is an infidel, though her breast is sable, she is still the pinnacle of femininity in the eyes of young Gahmuret, and while he may leave her, and while he may find plenty of other women, we hope that he always longs for her as Gawain does for Ragnelle.
1 comment:
Wolfram places a great deal of emphasis on the mouth. The mouth is important as it is used to place a kiss on a worthy knight. A custom that is perfomered in the text more times than I can count. Moreover, Wolfram describes many of the beautiful women of the text as having red, wet, or hot lips. Women who are in mourning for their lovers often have chapped or colorless lips. This indicates that lips could be a reflection of inner character. The beatuiful maiden has the desire to be overtaken by a knight's prowess. She is full of passion for the knight. The maiden in mourning is filled with infinite sadness. She devotes her life to weeping. She is bereft of passion. The only passion she had was for her lover (knight) who is gone. Her lips are no longer red, wet, or hot they are chapped.
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