This study focuses on the period between the late twelfth century and the late fifteenth century and the changes in perception toward sexual relations and gender politics, especially those pertaining to rape. While there is much to be said about instances of sexual violence in literature of the Early Middle Ages, this project relies on the romance fictions of the high and later Middle Ages because of the genre's unique position as record and critique of chivalric society. "Sexual Assault and Masculinity in Chivalric Romance" addresses instances of sexual assault where it does not conform to the binary of woman-as-victim, man-as-perpetrator. Much has been said on women as victims of rape, and there is a growing interest in masculinity studies; what happens when a woman is a perpetrator of sexual violence, however, has yet to be addressed. This dissertation does not solely focus on women as victimizers of men or women, but rather seeks to approach rape as a form of violence with a much more complicated psycho-social and literary implications. In so doing, I hope to complicate the essentialization of gendered identity based on ideations of sexual violence, not only for modern readers of medieval literature, but also for our conceptions of gendered violence in the twenty-first century. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2017. / March 8, 2017. / Gender, Medieval, Rape, Romance, Sexual violence / Includes bibliographical references. / David F. Johnson, Professor Directing Dissertation; Irene Padavic, University Representative; Anne Coldiron, Committee Member; Celia Daileader, Committee Member; Jamie Fumo, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_513768 |
| Contributors | Pitts, Jessica Renee (authoraut), Johnson, David F. (David Frame), 1956- (professor directing dissertation), Padavic, Irene (university representative), Coldiron, A. E. B. (Anne Elizabeth Banks) (committee member), Daileader, Celia R. (committee member), Fumo, Jamie Claire, 1976- (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Arts and Sciences (degree granting college), Department of English (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, doctoral thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (156 pages), computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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