Sorry if that question was phrased awkwardly. I’m writing this while waiting in a long line. I recently have been thinking about the story the Green knight. I read it about three years ago in a college class. Aesthetically I’ve always been really interested in this period and culture. It branched out into my modern fantasy interests too, but eventually I abandoned these stories or franchises, because the women are treated or are written so horribly. Or they’re interpreted by men….so just ignored or villainized. I witnessed this by watching a lot of my male professors and male classmates. The way they’d justify morally grey men’s characters, but if a woman was anything less than pure she was evil. I want to read a book where the scholars are able to interpret the female characters as people. So I’m wondering if any of you know any good classic literature accompanied with a female scholars notes? It doesn’t have to be women-centric. I’m just tired of always having to read analyses, particularly about women’s character, through men’s eyes. Thanks!
by ShoddySafety6232
1 Comment
Well, let’s be honest, there isn’t going to be much in the way of active female characters in medieval literature. With that said, Mists of Avalon by Marion Bradley is a good selection of Arthurian legends written from the woman’s perspective. If it’s academics and theri takes, I might recommend Alice Hall at Cornell who has written several books on the era (her think is French literature). Online there is an interview with Diane Watt which, I think, has material for further reading. [https://publicmedievalist.com/literary-women-watt/](https://publicmedievalist.com/literary-women-watt/)