Ravishing Maidens: Writing Rape in Medieval French Literature and Law

208 Pages·1991·10.083 MB·English

by  Kathryn Gravdal

Ravishing Maidens
University of Pennsylvania Press
NEW CULTURAL STUDIES SERIES
Joan Dejean, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg,
and Peter Stallybrass, Editors
A complete listing of the books in this series appears at the end of the
volume
Ravishing Maidens
Writing Rape in Medieval
French Literature and Law
Kathryn Gmvdal
Copyright © 1991 by Kathryn Gravdal
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gravdal, Kathryn.
Ravishing maidens : writing rape in medieval French literature and law / Kathryn
Gravdal.
p. cm.—(New cultural studies series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8122-8247-7 (cloth).—ISBN 0-8:22-1315-7 (pbk)
i. French literature—To 1500—History and criticism. 2. Women—France—History—
Middle Ages, 500—1500. 3. Rape—Law and legislation—France—History. 4. Women—
France—Crimes against—History. 5. Women and literature—France—History. 6. France—
Social conditions—987-1515. 7. Rape victims in literature. 8. Sex crimes in literature. 9. Rape
in literature. 10. Law, Medieval. I. Title. II. Series.
PQI55-W6G7 1991
840.9'355;0902—dc2O 90-26337
CIP
Second paperback printing 1995
To my daughter
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: The Archeology of Rape in Medieval Literature
and Law i
1. Plotting Rape in the Female Saints' Lives 21
2. The Poetics of Rape Law: Chretien de Troyes's Arthurian
Romance 42
3. Replaying Rape: Feudal Law on Trial in Le Roman de
Renart 72
4. The Game of Rape: Sexual Violence and Social Class in the
Pastourelle 104
5. The Complicity of Law and Literature 122
Conclusion 141
Notes 145
Bibliography 177
Index 189
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