ENGL 330 / ENGL 512: Medieval Literature
Dr. Debora B. Schwartz
English Department, California Polytechnic State UniversityMiddle English II: The Sacred, pt. 1
[page numbers in NA refer to 8th ed., 2006]General: 13th-century Prose for Women
Read the background information on Anglo-Norman England NA 7-10 (paying particular attention to the discussion of prose religious works, NA 9-10) and read carefully PW xi-xiv. Know dates (or approximations given by editors) for: Norman Conquest, the "beginnings of Middle English literature," Hali Meidhad and Seinte Margarete. Know what is meant by the following terms: vernacular, exemplum (plural: exempla), hagiography (or "saint's life"), anchoress, the Ancrene Wisse (selections from which we will read later this term), the "Katherine Group," and allegory. Pay particular attention to what editor of PW says about probable authorship of the Ancrene Wisse and the works in the "Katherine Group" (i.e. its monastic origins, PW xi) and about the target audience for these works (PW xi-xiii): while ostensibly written for three sisters in particular (xi), and more generally for any women in or entering religious life (PW xii), the works concern themes of relevance to a much broader audience of Christian lay people, male and female, who were unable to understand Latin (PW xiii). You need not worry about specific sources of these works, but do note that they draw on four different cultures familiar to their audience: Latin, English, French, and Welsh (PW xiii-xiv). Once again, "originality" is not an important concept for the anonymous writer, who is more concerned with reaching his target audience and making his points effectively than in coming up with new arguments or doing so in an "original" way.
A Note on Form: be aware that the works in this volume were originally written in Middle English prose rather than the alliterative verse characteristic of Old English (or Anglo-Saxon) oral-formulaic poetry, the rhymed verse (in the French language) enjoyed by contemporary French-speaking aristocrats at the courts of Anglo-Norman England, or the rhymed verse (in English) that would later be used by court poets such as Chaucer and Gower (starting in approximately the last third of the fourteenth century). Prose was considered more suitable to disseminating religious truths than was rhyme, both because verse was regarded as inherently more mendacious than prose (since a poet looking for a rhyme word might be tempted to sacrifice veracity for the sake of poetic expression) and because rhyme was associated with the frivolous court literature enjoyed by the Anglo-Norman courts (the thirteenth-century equivalent of what Bede disparagingly referred to as "vain and idle songs"). Keep in mind that when English poetry began to be composed in rhyme, towards the middle of the fourteenth century, this innovation was essentially a French import into English literary tradition, displacing the "homegrown" English poetry in alliterative verse that was apparently still being composed and transmitted orally (as the late-fourteenth-century works of the "alliterative revival" attest). The typical form of French-language courtly literature both in Anglo-Norman England and on the continent was octosyllabic rhyming couplets; it is from these French models that Chaucer and Gower would take their poetic inspiration.
Read through the introduction, PW xiv-xx. Note once again that Hali Meidhad is not "original" in the modern sense, since "almost everything in it has a direct source or at least a precedent in earlier and contemporary Latin writings" (PW xv). While you need not remember specific titles or authors (though if you do, more power to you!), do note the kind of works which are cited as possible sources (PW xviii-xix).
Note what is said about the target audience at PW xv: it is addressed "ad status," Latin for "to the estate," that is, to everyone in a particular social category (or "estate"). The idea of the three "Estates" is important to the social structure of the Middle Ages. In general (i.e. male) terms, one speaks of three "estates" (social classes under feudalism): the Nobility (those who fight), the Clergy (those who pray), and the peasantry (everyone else: those who produce the food which supports those who fight and pray). Women too belonged to one of these general "estates" by birth, but were more commonly categorized as members of three specifically "feminine estates": as virgin, wife, or widow (see e.g. the discussion of the heavenly songs that will be sung by each category of women after death, PW 19, and the miseries associated with the "state" of marriage, PW 33). Note that while the broader social estates are defined by "what one does" (to a certain extent determined by the class one is born into), the specifically "feminine" estates are defined in terms of women's sexual relations with the men with whom they currently, no longer, or never did, sleep.
Note the four main divisions in the text described PW xviii: an introduction (PW 2-4); two main sections, one on the rewards of virginity (PW 6-20) and one n the perils of marriage (PW 20-34)--which represent respectively the "carrot" and the "stick" methods of persuading young women not to marry; and a conclusion (PW 34-42). While you are expected to read the modern translation rather than the Middle English original, do glance occasionally at the original text, and note that--especially if you say the text aloud!--you can understand a good portion of it, although the accent sounds funny and there will be words that you don't recognize. (Remember that the two odd-looking letters are both pronounced like modern "th"; also note that a glossary at the end of the book provides translations for many of the unfamiliar words.) Looking ahead: the rigid division of feudal society into three traditional "estates" begins to break down by the later Middle Ages. By the late 14th century, we see the rise of a new mercantile class (mercantile=merchants, i.e. a middle-class) in the cities, and of a new sub-division of the clergy: intellectuals trained in scholarship and writing, but not destined to a career within the Church. Chaucer arguably belonged to both of these new categories. That Chaucer was highly conscious of the social divisions known as the "Estates" is evident in the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales. It is an example of "Estates Satire," that is, it satirizes the sort of abuses that occurred within the three general Estates (in particular, the Clergy), while the Wife of Bath, in her Prologue, argues forcefully that the feminine estates of "wife" and "widow" should be valued as much as that of "virgin." In this regard, the Wife of Bath's Prologue offers a direct response to the type of arguments made in Hali Meidhad. The Introduction of HM is presented as the interpretation of a Latin citation from the Psalms (note that words reproduced in italics in the modern English translation correspond to Latin phrases in the Middle English original). The virgin who is being addressed is told that desire for marriage or sexual union with a mortal man is an evil impulse; she must resist the "carnal thoughts" which would cause her to give up the eternal rewards of Virginity for the illusory and temporary pleasures of the flesh.. Virginity is likened to a "high tower" (PW 3), thus loss of virginity can only be seen as a "fall" to a "lower" status. Instead of accepting a mortal husband, who may mistreat her, she should hold out for a higher-status marriage to the King of Kings. . . Jesus Christ. Becoming the bride of Christ allows her to attain the supreme social status denied to her on earth (he is eternal King of heaven, thus as his spouse she is a Queen), while marriage on earth is compared to slavery, servitude and drudgery. While the rhetoric here is extreme, note that the author does have a point: marriages in the middle ages were not primarily based on love, and married women had few legal rights: the husband was the "adult" who made decisions concerning the wife, who was considered a perpetual "minor," morally bound to serve and obey him, forbidden from making decisions concerning her own future, and without any legal recourse against unfair treatment, neglect or cruelty. (Consider that even today, many people do not believe in the possibility of spousal rape and that spousal abuse is exceedingly hard to prove in the courts.)
Parts 1 and 2 present the superiority of Virginity over mortal marriage, which is painted in strictly negative terms. Mortal marriage is the loss of that treasure that can never be regained (Virginity) through a sinful and filthy act that should fill the virgin with disgust and shame. Note however that the virgin's union with her heavenly spouse, Christ, is still described using sensual language: he is repeatedly referred to as her "lover," the spouse for whom she wants to preserve her virginity. (From this perspective, death will be welcome as her long-awaited celestial wedding night.) Here we recognize allegory akin to Bernard of Clairvaux's allegorical interpretation of the Song of Songs, in which the bridegroom represents Christ and the bride the individual human soul; their union is the ecstatic union of the soul with God (review translatio handout). As you read the text, note sensual or erotic imagery and vocabulary applied to the union between the virgin and God, and be prepared to volunteer some examples of this imagery/vocabulary in class!
Paradoxically, while the metaphor of sexual union is used to suggest the soul's ecstatic union with God, sex is frowned on in the here-and-now. Human existence is divided into two opposing spheres, the carnal (having to do with the body) and the spiritual (having to do with the soul). The carnal, we are told, is the "enemy" of the spiritual; the body is to be mistrusted and its impulses are to be guarded against. The author explains that marriage was created to save the "weak" from damnation, but that it is far better to be a virgin since God loves virginity best of all virtues. He goes on to enumerate the miseries caused by marriage: the wife must submit to sex (which is disgusting), mistreatment by her husband, or, if she is happy with him, the pain that comes from losing him to death (whereas a bride of Christ will enjoy all eternity with a spouse who never mistreats her). Bearing children is a trial rather than a joy: the most unpleasant aspects of pregnancy, childbirth and child-rearing are realistically described, and those who still manage to find joy in their children are reminded of the pain of losing them or seeing them turn out badly (remember that infant mortality was high in the middle ages, as were incidences of death in childbirth). Note the arguments the author makes to support his points. Pick out a few quotations that illustrate these arguments, note the page numbers, and be prepared to bring them up in class!
The Conclusion loops back to the beginning by referring once again to the quotation from the Psalms with which the treatise began (p. 35, "Now then, innocent maiden, whom David calls 'daughter'. . .") It then offers a "recap" of the essential points in the author's argument, while warning the virgin not to succumb to the vice of Pride--first of the Seven Deadly Sins--by scorning non-virgins (wives and widows). Note throughout the text the way in which virginity is associated with "mildness" or humility, the absence of pride--despite the fact that many of the arguments made to convince the maiden to remain a virgin appeal precisely to her pride! Note that Saint Margaret, subject of our next reading, appears on the list of Virgin Martyrs who "rejoice in the arms of God" for all eternity (41).
While the arguments found in Hali Meidhad invariably strike modern readers as exceedingly strange, it is important to note two things: 1) because medieval marriages were seldom based on love, the negative depiction of marriage in this work was a common reality for many medieval women, who rarely had a say in choosing their husbands. (See in this regard the testimony of Margery Kempe and of Chaucer's Wife of Bath.) And 2) the emphasis on virginity in this work is to a certain extent rhetorical. Virginity was not valued so much for itself as for what it symbolized: a pure spirit which would ultimately be worthy of salvation. To choose virginity over marriage, then, symbolized the belief that eternity is ultimately more important than the here and now, and that the spiritual is more important than physical existence.
Contents of this and linked pages Copyright Debora B. Schwartz, 1999-2007
Click here for Seinte Margarete Study Questions
Click here for Ancrene Wisse Study Questions
Click here for information on The Medieval Estates
Click here for Introduction to Medieval Allegory
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