Author: -

Abstract: »Violations of consent and sexual assault occurred frequently within the genre of romance popular across medieval England and France during the late Middle Ages. While many of the characters who experienced sexual assault in these pieces of literature were women, “Subjection to Chivalry” investigates two masculine characters whose consent is violated within their respective romances. The essay explores how the experiences of Silence, the Roman de Silence’s protagonist, and Sir Gawain of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight can read as violations of consent and assault at the hands of both male and female aggressors, and questions how those violations were facilitated. Informing these investigations with framework from contemporary law codes, the essay explores the ways in which both romances navigate understandings of consent and sexual violence.
Exploring the treatment of consent and sexual assault in these romances ensures that conversations about these topics continues. By investigating their appearance in romance, we not only challenge the assumptions modern audiences have about the Middle Ages’ consideration of consent and sexual violence, but we also inform and expand our own thinking surrounding these topics.« (Source: Thesis)

Contents:

	Abstract (p. iii)
	Consent, Chivalric Expectation, and Power in Medieval France and England (p. 1)
		Consent and Sexual Violence in the Medieval Period (p. 2)
		Chivalry and its Power in the Middle Ages (p. 8)
	Chivalry’s Expectations Reversed: The Intelligibility of Agency and Consent in the Roman de Silence (p. 19)
		The Prison We Choose: Silence’s Masculine Identification and Chivalry’s Power Over Him (p. 21)
		The Queen’s Sexual Expectations: Silence in the Bedroom (p. 28)
		Loyalty Tested: Silence Stripped of Clothes, Consent, and Agency (p. 39)
	Actions Speak Louder: Gawain’s Victimization in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (p. 46)
		Lack of Agency in Hautdesert: Fitt II and Gawain’s First Days in Bertilak’s Keep (p. 48)
		The Meet-Cute (?): The Precursors of Seduction in Fitt II (p. 52)
		Expectations of Deference: Prefiguring Coercion (p. 59)
		Deference, Defence, and Discomfort: Gawain in Fitt III (p. 63)
		The Marring of Gawain’s Body: Feminized Wounds in Fitt IV (p. 74)
	Conclusion (p. 83)
	Works Cited and Consulted (p. 85)

Wikipedia: History of Europe: History of England | Literature: French literature / Roman de Silence | Literature: English literature / Sir Gawain and the Green Knight | Sex and the law: Sexual violence