A wide discrepancy exists between fictional and non-fictional women in the fifteenth century. Creative authors present an extremely negative view of women, describing them as lusty, fickle, self-centered shrews. Historical writing presents women in a much more positive manner, showing them to be faithful, sincere and intelligent individuals. / Using history as the point of comparison, the imaginative literature exhibits a lack of contact with reality. Actual happenings such as the plague, wars, expansion of commerce and the changing society are not reflected in the fictional accounts of life. The depiction of women characters, then, is not realistic, but merely an imitation of past stereotypes, and have no connection with an actual fifteenth-century English woman. / In reality, women play an important role in the economic sector of society. The fifteenth-century witnessed a large amount of women entering the working world. Equally important, as evidenced by various family letters, many women have to act as their husbands' agents, often being required to hold courts, defend manors, or oversee the employees on the estates. Fifteenth-century English women found it necessary to be knowledgeable in a variety of subjects. / Such a discrepancy in the portrayal of women is quite evident. Creative authors such as Lydgate, Dunbar, Henryson and Malory present extremely unflattering depictions of women. Thomas Hoccleve, alone, is the only author of imaginative literature to establish himself as a supporter of women. A more truthful view of women, and one which negates the majority of creative authors, is found in such writings as the Paston, Stonor and Plumpton correspondences. / The existence of this disparity in women's depiction cannot be denied. Analysis indicates that the creative literature has lost touch with reality. Fictional literature has stagnated, while reality has been progressing forward. The result is that the fiction of fifteenth-century England presents women in a biased and unrealistic light. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-06, Section: A, page: 1786. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75103 |
| Contributors | FOSTER, SADYE PEARL., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 261 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
Page generated in 0.0024 seconds