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Women In Midieval and Renaissance Europe

 

            When you think about how much we have progressed in the centuries since Medieval and Renaissance times, you realize that women have made leaps and bounds in some ways, and yet have stayed the same in others. Women have made great advances in the education of their gender and now, barring discrimination hold the same offices and get the same pay as men of equal educational backgrounds. Yet women have not really gained higher offices or gained power per say. Granted women holed positions of great power in governments and businesses today, but really how is that different from the queens and ladies of the past. The works of literature we have read so far all show the power that women of those times could exhibit.
             In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a story written by a monk supposedly in the late 1400's, the lady of the story uses a type of power that many women have over just about all men. She tries to seduce the main character, Sir Gawain, one of King Arthur's greatest knights. Here is an excerpt form the book, showing some of her exploits trying to seduce Gawain.
             ""Good morning, Gawain," said that beautiful woman,.
             "Your sleep is so innocent that anyone can catch you -.
             And now you"re caught! If no one arranges a true, I"ll tie you to you bed - I will!".
             Laughing, she teased him with a flurry of words." .
             (pg. 87; line 1208-1212).
             Although she doesn't succeed in getting Gawain into bed, she does succeed in making him falter in the ways of the knightly code. The power of seduction is one that all women, at one time or another, have exhibited on men.
             Lady Macbeth, the wife of the title character in Shakespeare's Macbeth, also uses seduction to get her husband to kill his king. Although Macbeth loves his king and serves him well. It is the seduction by Lady Macbeth that pushes Macbeth over the edge and makes him decide to go forth with the killing. This excerpt shows some of Lady Macbeth's tactics.


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