EROTIC TRESSES Dissertation

EROTIC TRESSES: HAIR AND POWER IN MEDIEVAL FRENCH NARRATIVE AN ABSTRACT SUBMITTED ON THE SIXTEENTH DAY OF NOVEMBER 2018 TO THE DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH AND ITALIAN IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE SCHOOL OF LIBERAL ARTS OF TULANE UNIVERSITY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY _______________________________ Leslie Anderson APPROVED: _______________________ Elizabeth Poe, Ph.D. Director _______________________ Fayçal Falaky, Ph.D. _______________________ Mimi Schippers, Ph.D. Abstract This dissertation addresses how women’s hair in medieval French literature denotes female sexuality by untangling the narrative conveyed by long, glorious tresses, heaD-coverings, and hairstyles. By analyzing descriptions and imagery of hair, heaD- coverings, and the removal of hair, I examine how women’s hair mediates social hierarchy. My proposition is that beneath the external image of female hair resides a narrative of language and dominance. In the first chapter I argue that medieval authors use hair as a locus of power and desire. In undertaking this research, I seek to deconstruct power relations that existed between the sexes in medieval French culture. The first chapter explores hair as a fetish object in two Courtly Love romances by Chrétien de Troyes,’ Cligès and Le Chevalier de la charrette. The ingenuity of two noble heroines is overshadowed by the sexual desire of the two male characters and their subsequent empowerment via eroticized tresses. In chapter two I consider situations in which attention to hair turns violent in the fabliau Les Treces and in the romances Floriant et Florette and Le Roman de la Rose. Again, I find that men gain privilege through the abuse and dominance of women via their hair. Finally, I treat women appropriating power via hair across in two romances, Flamenca, from Occitania, and Le bel inconnu, and in two lais of Marie de France, Eliduc and Lanval. I treat religious female head coverings to show how two women manipulate religious settings to their advantage, and I consider Otherworldly fairies who uncover their hair, deliberately wielding their sexuality to gain influence and dominate male figures. EROTIC TRESSES: HAIR AND POWER IN MEDIEVAL FRENCH NARRATIVE A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED ON THE SIXTEENTH DAY OF NOVEMBER 2018 TO THE DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH AND ITALIAN IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE SCHOOL OF LIBERAL ARTS OF TULANE UNIVERSITY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY _______________________________ Leslie Anderson APPROVED: _______________________ Elizabeth Poe, Ph.D. Director _______________________ Fayçal Falaky, Ph.D. _______________________ Mimi Schippers, Ph.D AcknowleDgements I would like to acknowledge a few women, without whom I would not be who I am and where I am today. First and foremost is my mother, Lori Burress, who has enthusiastically supported me and unconditionally loved me for twenty-nine years. I have infinite appreciation for you for putting up with me during the bad times and sticking by my side when it has mattered most. This is for both of us! To Annie and Emily, I can only hope to return in kind the moral support you have given me over the months. You ladies are my best cheerleaders and brainstormers – a thousand thanks. Karen Taylor also deserves special mention, for first planting a medievalist seed in my soul and introducing me to the œuvre of Marie de France. I would also like to thank Wendy Pfeffer, a mentor during and beyond my time at the University of Louisville. I am grateful to have had the chance to develop and hone my interest in medieval French under your guidance. And finally, Beth Poe, it has been the honor of my graduate career to have you directing my dissertation. Your indomitable wit and good humor have encouraged me to keep my chin up numerous times, and I have nothing but fond and fun memories of your classes, our meetings, and, of course, FOOF! ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................... II INTRODUCTION: THE ROOTS OF FEMALE SEXUALITY ..................................................................... 1 CHAPTER ONE: FETISHIZING HAIR IN THE ROMANCES OF CHRÉTIEN DE TROYES ................ 12 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 12 “MASTER OF THE WORLD:” HAIR AS AN EROTIC GIFT IN CLIGÉS .............................................................. 13 FEMINIZATION TO DOMINATION IN LE CHEVALIER DE LA CHARRETTE ......................................................... 32 CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................................. 57 CHAPTER TWO: VIOLENCE AND MALE DOMINANCE: FEMALE HAIR AS A LOCUS OF PUNISHMENT .............................................................................................................................................. 62 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 62 MALE JEALOUSY AND PUNISHMENT OF THE FEMALE BODY ...................................................................... 66 SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND CLASS RELATIONS IN “LES TRECES” ................................................................... 87 FEMALE AMBITION AND COMPULSORY HETEROSEXUALITY IN FLORIANT ET FLORETE .............................. 95 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................ 107 CHAPTER THREE: TENDRILS OF SUBVERSION: FEMALE SEXUALITY UNTANGLED AND UNBOUND .................................................................................................................................................. 113 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................... 113 HOLY HAIR: THE VEIL AS A SOURCE OF FEMALE EMPOWERMENT IN ELIDUC ......................................... 116 FLAMENCA, THE BENDA, AND TONSURED LOVE: A “HOST” OF DIVINE ROMANCE ................................... 135 TRESSES D’OR: OTHERWORLDLY HAIR IN LANVAL AND LE BEL INCONNU ................................................ 147 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................ 165 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................ 170 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................................ 177 iii 1 IntroDuction: The Roots of Female Sexuality Hair is something near and dear to us all. It is unique to us in that it is an extension of the living body, continuously growing and changing, while at the same time it is dead. Medieval scholar Robert Bartlett aptly points out that hair is a “bearer of meaning:” it is malleable, so it can be shaped, colored, removed. But, unlike clothing, it is organic in that it comes from the body. Because it is visible, it conveys public and social symbolism, while at the same time it is personal and private (43). During the Middle Ages, and even still today, hair was a crucial component of identity. In literature of the period, women’s hair color, texture, and style alone were enough to identify a noble woman from a commoner, a heroine from a villain, and a modest woman from a harlot. This dissertation is rooted in the narratives spun by and through women’s hair in medieval French literature from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Inspired by the prevalence of descriptions of women’s hair in medieval narrative coupled with the notion of hair as a projection of social symbolism and personal meaning, this body of research endeavors to uncover the significance of female hair in the Middle Ages as a locus of sexuality. The story told by women’s hair in medieval French literature is one of fetishization, abuse, and power all derived from the control and exploitation of female hair. Authors of this literature use women’s hair as a plot device to empower male characters through the display of male authority over the female body and the fetishistic adoration of women’s hair. This does not eliminate the possibility for women themselves to wield hair as a 1 powerful tool; in fact, certain examples will illustrate that women, in addition to men could find social advancement and independence through the clever manipulation of their hair styles. Since before the Hellenistic age, female sexuality in the Western world has served as a reflection of the character of the men with whom the woman is affiliateD. A woman who did not uphold socially-defined moral codes discredited and shamed the men responsible for and related to her. This image of female morality has a long-established connection to female sartorial customs and the body. Ancient Greek fashion historian Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones first traces the notion of female visibility and privacy through dress as early as the fourth century BCE through the appearance of the tegidion, a type of female veil and heaD-covering. He translates tegidion as “little house,” suggesting a way for women to move as safely in public as she does in the privacy of her own home

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