Copyright 2015 Carola Dwyer
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Copyright 2015 Carola Dwyer THE SERPENT WOMAN AS A GROTESQUE IN FRENCH, ENGLISH, AND GERMAN MEDIEVAL NARRATIVE BY CAROLA DWYER DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Comparative Literature in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2015 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Karen Fresco, Chair and Director of Research Associate Professor Claudia Bornholdt, Co-Director of Research, Catholic University of America Associate Professor Anna Stenport Professor Emerita Marianne Kalinke ii Abstract: In contemporary theory and artistic representation, the grotesque is understood as a creative space in which the depiction of a peculiar individual or event assembled in some disproportionate and disparate form turns human society on its head. In a medieval representation the rules are different insofar as that medieval literature is riddled with extraordinary creatures, places, and events. This comparative study investigates the female grotesque within the framework of courtly romance. By establishing a definition of the grotesque that combines contemporary theory with medieval literary concepts, history, and philosophy, a critical reading of four hybrid women, half-human, half-serpent, who have been previously described as monstrous becomes possible. It shows that these serpent women are examples of a female grotesque, a term rarely applied to medieval literature. The characters are true Other in that they are neither human nor beast. I apply the term “grotesque” to four women who challenge their societies’ views on expectations of women and the dynamic between the knights who pursue them. These serpents are grotesque because they are noblewomen with characters, behavior, and status that conform to courtly culture, but appear in ugly and misshapen bodies that reveal at least one audaciously feminine feature desired by medieval knights. Although the women are pivotal for the men’s development, the knights are unexpectedly overwhelmed and mocked. That brings about a double effect that challenges cultural norms on various levels and exposes paradoxes, such as the correlation between appearance and power and generates at least one common women and gender issue in this medieval study and beyond: when the woman loses her human form and becomes ugly, she gains power. iii For my parents Karl & Gertrud Woesner iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Throughout my academic career and journey through graduate school, I was lucky to encounter many people who enhanced my personal and professional path. I would like to thank all of them! First, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Dr. Karen Fresco for the continuous support of my Ph.D. study and related research, for her patience, stimulus, and vast knowledge, and for the countless hours she spent reading and revising my dissertation drafts. Her support, guidance, and expertise helped me all the time of research and writing of this dissertation. The same gratitude goes out to Dr. Claudia Bornholdt whose insightful comments, always positive attitude, and encouragement offered during many conversations on the phone helped me to complete my project. I would like to thank the rest of my dissertation committee: Dr. Marianne Kalinke and Dr. Anna Stenport for their insightfulness, but also the hard questions, which inspired me to widen my explorations from various viewpoints and made me a better scholar. My sincere thanks also goes to Dr. Nicola McDonald for giving me the opportunity to spend a semester at the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of York, UK, and whose stimulating seminar gave me the impetus for my topic. I will be always grateful to Laurel Amtower, my beautiful and brilliant professor at San Diego State University, who so much enlightened my mind and whose memory will never fade, and I sincerely thank Dr. C. Stephen Jaeger who invited me to join the doctoral program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I thank my friends and colleagues at the following institutions: the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, Parkland College in Champaign, IL, and the University of North v Carolina at Greensboro, NC. In particular, I am grateful to Dr. Robert Cagle, Dr. Susanne Rinner, Dr. Brooke Kreitinger, and Sarah Carrig for their friendship and cheering to walk all the way to the end, and to Eva Frayne of Champaign, IL, and Dr. Cori Crane of the University of Texas at Austin for their continuing kindness and optimism. I send a huge thanks to Edward Lurey and Margaret Moffett of Greensboro, NC, without whom I would have never been able to reach this goal. Thank you Margaret for the many, many hours of help and support you have provided including the late night open-door policy, which seemed to have established itself by the very end. I thank Edward Dietkus and my sisters Ina Woesner-Brüning and Eva Bernardi from the bottom of my heart, and also my friends, who will always be my family, regardless of how many thousands of miles lie between us. Thank you, Annke Krauskopf, Brigitte Twiefel, and Doris Gölz in Germany. I thank my American friends Angie Stenson, Dixie Thornhill, Deborah Soloway, Victoria and Justus Hermann, Evelyn Reif Michaud, and in particular Robert Swinford of Champaign, IL. I thank all of you for supporting me spiritually throughout writing this dissertation. Last but not the least, I would like to thank my parents who taught me everything, but in particular perseverance and my love for languages, learning, and travel. I will miss you forever! vi Table of Contents CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 1 LITERATURE OVERVIEW .................................................................................................................................. 10 1.1. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GROTESQUE AS A LITERARY TERM ................................................................ 12 1.2. THE GROTESQUE AS A CRITICAL CATEGORY FOR (MEDIEVAL) WOMEN .................................................... 13 1.3. THE HISTORY OF THE TERM GROTESQUE .................................................................................................... 14 1.4. THE GROTESQUE ACCORDING TO HARPHAM .............................................................................................. 17 1.5. THE GROTESQUE ACCORDING TO RUSSO ..................................................................................................... 22 1.6. THE GROTESQUE ACCORDING TO BAKHTIN ................................................................................................ 24 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER: GROTESQUE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SERPENT WOMAN............................ 27 2.1. HYPERBOLE ................................................................................................................................................... 28 2.2. MONSTROSITY ............................................................................................................................................... 29 2.2.1. THE LOATHLY LADY VERSUS THE GROTESQUE WOMAN .......................................................................... 37 2.3. HYBRIDITY .................................................................................................................................................... 38 2.4. UGLINESS ....................................................................................................................................................... 42 2.5. CENTRALITY .................................................................................................................................................. 45 2.6. SECRECY ......................................................................................................................................................... 45 2.7. CAVERNOUSNESS ........................................................................................................................................... 45 2.8. OTHERNESS ................................................................................................................................................... 46 2.9. CURSEDNESS .................................................................................................................................................. 47 2.10. AMBIGUITY .................................................................................................................................................. 47 2.11. INSTABILITY ................................................................................................................................................ 48 CHAPTER OVERVIEW AND OUTLOOK............................................................................................................... 49 vii CHAPTER 2: A HIDEOUS QUEEN IN THE OLD FRENCH LI BIAUS DESCOUNEÜS .............................. 54 1. LI BIAUS DESCOUNEÜS: A TRADITIONAL ROMANCE IN OLD FRENCH ............................................................ 54 2. BLONDE ESMERÉE AS THE GROTESQUE WOMAN ............................................................................................ 58 2.1. UGLINESS: BLONDE ESMERÉE AS VUIVRE .................................................................................................... 58 2.2. CENTRALITY: BLONDE ESMERÉE IN THE MIDDLE ......................................................................................