The Role of Women in Arthurian Romances Essay Example for Free

The Role of Women in Arthurian Romances Essay It is a popular format that a woman is the lead character in contemporary romances. But not in stories form the middle ages. They are typically dominated by men and women are but damsels in distress. Kings and knights are more likely the words that come to mind when discussing about stories from the middle ages. Also, the middle ages is an era known for gender bias against women. They were usually depicted as helpless damsels in distress in need of help from a knight. Even the women of high status such as queens are portrayed with weakness in character and dependency on men. A kingdom is a male dominated-social setting, that’s why they are aptly called king-dom. Women have been mistreated as man’s property during this time. They were treated as rewards for battles and can be used for payment of a man’s debt. Of course, it is a usual observation that women are obviously not more glorified than men in these stories. Some were portrayed unfaithful and impure. It is easy to conclude that the women were mere companions and damsels-in-distress. In many cases, these women were subjected to violence and exploitation. In some occasions, some women were even treated as property by men that can be used as payment for a man’s debt (Gravdal 141). In â€Å"The Knight with the Lion†, thirty of the fairest maidens, each year, were used as payment for a young king’s freedom (Troyes 270). In Arthurian romances, women are given roles that differ from typical middle age stories. The roles maybe different, but all are crucial in Arthurian romances (Fester 59-61). Women are more empowered and are given much important roles in the stories. They are more evenly distributed within the plot. In Chretien de Troyes’ â€Å"The Knight of the Cart†, a woman is always present and interacting with the hero, Lancelot, in every scene. In â€Å"The Knight and the Lion†, of the same author, all of Yvain’s knightly deeds were requests from maidens. A very logical speculation why Chretien de Troyes depicted women in such an empowered manner is because he dedicated these stories to a woman, to Marie, countess of Champagne. The countess was a patron of his works at that time. She supplied him some sources for the stories. (Troyes 170) The presence of women in Arthurian romances highlighted the knight’s admirable courtesy to women. There is an instance in â€Å"The Knight in the Cart† that Lancelot was seduced by a woman to sleep with her. He refused the offer because he was focused on his quest to rescue Guinevere (Troyes 87). A knight seems to always help a maiden without question. In this sense, women have some sort of authority over men. In the first part of â€Å"The Knights of the Cart†, Kay announced that he wanted to leave court. King Arthur begged him to him not to go, but failed. King Arthur asked Queen Guinevere for help. We can see that the king feels powerless in this particular situation. He has no person in mind that can help him in this dilemma other than Queen Guinevere (Troyes 171). With this, Chretien de Troyes had already incorporated empowerment to Queen Guinevere’s character right from the very start of the story. The significance of women is probably most expressed in â€Å"The Knights of the Cart. † Queen Guinevere is probably the most popular among the women in the realm of Arthurian romances. Guinevere could be easily accused of being weak in character because she is very susceptible to being kidnapped. She was entangled in a love triangle with King Arthur and Lancelot and had easily fallen for Kay request of taking her with him that resulted to her abduction (Troyes 172). But being weak in character is very far from what is Guinevere’s role in this story. She has a certain power over the king that he asks her opinion about issues. She has also unexplainably, if not for the word â€Å"love†, inspired the knight Lancelot into a quest wherein no ordinary man can accomplish. Lancelot was finding it hard to defeat Meleagant in a swordfight. But when he took sight of Guinevere, he fought with renewed energy and defeated his opponent. There are some instances that Lancelot was on the brink of giving up his quest. But when he thinks of Guinevere, he is renewed with strength and determination (Fenster 229-34). I a certain angle, we can view Guinevere’s affair with Lancelot as a form of woman empowerment. King Arthur, like most kings, had taken other women after Guinevere. What she did was only giving justice to what his husband did. She didn’t choose to be passive of what is happening.