The Lady and the Virgin: Image, Attitude, and Experience in Twelfth-Century France

by Penny Schine Gold

Book Overview

Penny Schine Gold provides a bold analysis of key literary and artistic images of women in the Middle Ages and the relationship between these images and the actual experience of women. She argues that the complex interactions between men and women as expressed in both image and experience reflect a common pattern of ambivalence and contradiction. Thus, women are seen as both helpful and harmful, powerful and submissive, and the actuality of women's...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226300889
• ISBN13: 9780226300887
• Release Date: June 1987
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 206 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Excellent text, of broader interest than the title suggests.

An indisciplanary work which has served me well since first I read it, Schine-Gold's book achieves its remarkable results through an intense look at a narrow geographic area and time period. However, it must be recalled that in the twelfth century, France was the most important intellectural center in Europe. As such, Schine-Gold's narrow focus actually allows her to examine trends and developements of broad significance during the medieval period. By combining a solid grasp of literary criticism with a stellar view of art history, Schine-Gold produces a book that is of interest to students of several disciplines: medieval literature, history, art, and even religion and philosophy. Her close readings of texts and monuments allow her to develope some solid, interesting, and sometimes surprising theories that have an impact on ones's general understanding of 12th century France and the Middle Ages in general. A fine, fine work I would recommend to experienced undergraduates as well as those of great experience in their fields.