The women in the medieval period lived a tough life that was strictly dominated by men. Upper or lower class, women in the medieval period lived a tough, restricted life, with little to no choice in most matter and extremely limited access to their own freedom. The women were expected to instantly obey not only their father, but also their brothers and any other male members of the family. Any unruly girls were beaten into submission and disobedience was seen as a crime against religion. Women were powerless as they that they did have were unfair, unreasonable and extremely sexist. hardly had rights and the rights The everyday roles of women evolved around a man as the women were very powerless, they had many obligations and responsibilities …show more content…
Their roles were strictly dictated. Women did not have access to equal rights in medieval times leaving them without access to their own freedom. In the medieval period women weren’t able to stand up for their beliefs and they didn’t have any say or any freedom. During these times, the society was completely dominated by the men. The women were expected to know their role and majority of the women in society had no role within the country. Women were not entitled to a political vote and were not able to choose whether or not to marry or have children. Women were also not generally able to work. Women did not generally have access to education; women who chose to become nuns were able to receive basic education in addition to their Christian devotion. Women have been tortured to repress their sexuality, silence their tongues, and conform to standards of beauty. As shown by the device known as The Ducking Stool, women were brutally hurt under the control of men. It was horribly sexist towards women. If a woman did something unwomanly — most often this entailed being a "scold" who told off her husband and caused problems by spreading gossip — she'd be strapped in a chair at the end of a pole, and summarily dropped into the nearest stream or lake...repeatedly. This was an excellent example of how womans rights were not valued and they were unfairly
Medieval England was considered to be a Patriarchy, due to the serious gender roles which cast men as superior to women. Margery Kempe attempted time and time again to break the boundaries of the gender roles put in place by society. The men in her life tried to stop her, and bring her back to the social norms of what it meant to be a women living in the time period: John Kempe, her priest, Christ etc. To analyze Kempe, it is first important to note what was expected of medieval women; “the classical females are portrayed as vessels of chastity, purity, and goodness” (O’Pry-Reynolds, 37). She was not your typical female; she wanted to break free from the strict expectations of women; “Men and women of the medieval period and medieval literature
Women were judged very harshly during this time for doing anything outside of what was expected of them.
That being said, women were extremely limited in their role in society. First of all, women were expected to be homemakers. By homemaker, I mean the women w... ... middle of paper ... ...ay."
What if women never established rights? The world would not be the place it is today if that was the case. Women are able to do just as much as men are and even more. What if men were treated the same way as women were one thousand years ago? They would have felt just as the women did, hurt because the treatment between men and women was unfair. The fact that men and women were not treated equally was wrong in many ways, but that was the way of life during those times. In the British culture, from the Anglo-Saxon to the Renaissance time period, the men were respected on a higher level than women, and women were to always be subservient to men, which were demonstrated throughout many works of literature.
Men and women were seen to live in separate social class from the men where women were considered not only physically weaker, but morally superior to men. This meant that women were the best suited for the domestic role of keeping the house. Women were not allowed in the public circle and forbidden to be involved with politics and economic affairs as the men made all the
Women in the Elizabethan era were presented as very obedient to their husbands and respectful to them also. They had no power and no say, they were treated badly and nothing would be done to stop the behaviour. In modern society most women have as much say as the men, they are not expected to stay at home and clean etc, and instead they go to work as well. Some women are like Katherina before she was supposedly tamed, very out spoken, yet inequality still exists.
Medieval society was completely dominated by men, making a women’s life at the time difficult. Medieval law at the time stated that women could not marry without their parents consent, could not divorce their husbands, could not own property unless widows, could not inherit land if they had surviving brothers, and could own no business with special permission (Trueman, “Medieval Women”). When a woman married a man, he would get any property she owned and she would forfeit any rights she had to him. When the husband dies she would get one third of the land to live on and support herself. Unmarried women who owned land had the same rights as men (Hull). Whenever a woman got into trouble it would be her closest male relative who would appear in court, not the woman herself (Medieval).
Then by the 1870s they outlawed abortions and contraception which means that women in society had no other job in society other than children, and they were not allowed to say anything on the subject.
A woman was not seen as being equal to a man. This is clear in the laws dealing with marriage. Women were contractually obligated to remain with their husbands only, while their husbands were permitted to have a mistress or second wife. If a woman was caught with another man, she would be drowned (“The Code of Hammurabi”). Another thing that shows that women were not equal to men is the fact that they could be sold into slavery by their husbands at any time. Women did, however, have some rights such as the right to own property and the right to inherit and pass down that property. They also played very important roles in society. Some of these roles included shop owners, bakers, or scribes (Judge and Langdon,
Understanding the way women both were controllers of and controlled by social, political and cultural forces in the medieval period is a complex matter. This is due to a number of factors- the lack of documentation of medieval women, high numbers of illiteracy amongst women, especially lower class, medieval sources being viewed through a contemporary lens and the actual limitations and expectations placed upon women during the period, to name a few. The primary sources: The Treasure of The City of Ladies by Catherine of Siena and Peter of Blois’ letter to Eleanor of Aquitaine concerning her rebellion, highlight the restrictions women were expected to adhere to, and the subsequent reprimanding that occurred when they didn’t. Women were not passive victims to the blatant patriarchal standards that existed within medieval society, even though ultimately they would be vilified for rebelling.
Women in different societies around the world, during the Middle Ages, experienced different hardships and roles. These hardships and roles helped shape how they were viewed in their society. Some women were treated better and more equal than others. In Rome, Medieval England, and Viking society, women’s legal status, education, marriage and family roles were considered diverse, but also similar. In certain nation’s women have more or less power than women in other nations, but none equal to the power that women have in America today.
Most of the gender expectations stemmed from the Church and biblical history. There were many anti-feminist feelings due to Eve causing the fall of Man. Women were perceived to be responsible for most of the suffering to man, and were therefore inferior and to be dominated by their husbands and men in general. “The courtly lady of medieval poetry has much in common with the images of the Virgin” (Martin xiv). Chastity, purity, and holiness, were all associated with the expectations of women from role models such as the Virgin Mary type-cast women into a saintly role. Because women were thought to have caused so much suffering on behalf of mankind, they were to be controlled, held in check and not exhibit any outward signs of defiance or concern for themselves. Their purpose in life was to serve others at their own expense.
Women had a very difficult position in society during the Middle Ages. The feudal age was known for its superstitions, and women were often convicted of witchcraft and burned at the stake. Some of the more lucky women held professions of there own, such as blacksmiths, carpenters, and apothecaries....
Women were seen weaker than men and they were not playing a decisive role in earning a living for the family. Society gave them roles as caring the house, giving birth and bearing children, morally supporting their husband. Single women were not respected. Only women educated were belonged to rich families. They could not own or inherit property.
The roles of women was an issue in medieval times and in The Canterbury Tales. In A Knight 's Tale, the women were portrayed as objects. To men they didn 't mean much. Women for them were there to help only when needed and didn 't hold an important role in society. Women were treated differently and had not much of importance.