Indecent Bodies: Gender and the Monstrous in Medieval English Literature
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INDECENT BODIES: GENDER AND THE MONSTROUS IN MEDIEVAL ENGLISH LITERATURE DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Dana Morgan Oswald, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2005 Dissertation Committee: Professor Nicholas Howe, Advisor Approved by Professor Lisa Kiser Professor Christopher A. Jones ______________________________ Advisor English Graduate Program ABSTRACT While Old English literature rarely represents sexualized bodies, and just as rarely represents monsters, Middle English literature teems with bodies that are both sexualized and monstrous. In Old English, sexualized bodies appear in overlooked genres like bestiaries or travel narratives—the homes of monsters. Thus, monsters possess some of the only explicitly sexualized forms present in Old English texts. But it is not only the difference between paucity and abundance that marks the change from Old to Middle English monsters; it is also the shift from permanence to mutability. The bodies of Old English monsters are permanent and unchanging; many Middle English monsters, however, are capable of transformation. In order to study the shift from Old English monsters to those in Middle English, I offer four case studies, two Old English and two Middle English. I begin with a discussion of the desire by Old English writers and readers to erase the sexualized bodies of monsters in Wonders of the East. The author and characters in Beowulf, too, attempt to erase the monstrous and reproductive body of Grendel’s mother from the narrative, a tactic that only results in revealing the failure of human communities. In Middle English, monstrous bodies are trickier; they cannot be so easily erased. Because of their ability to transform, the monstrous bodies in Mandeville’s Travels either sexually under- or over- ii circulate in ways that disrupt proper community and class standards. However, the Middle English romance, Sir Gowther, presents a solution to the problem of the monstrous body; through penance, the child of a demon and a noble woman transforms physically and spiritually into a child of God. Most of these texts attempt to dispel the threat of the monster through erasure, be it the literal removal of the monstrous image, the killing of the monster, or the rehabilitation of the monster through religious means. Mandeville’s Travels, however, reminds us that monsters have infiltrated communities and cannot be easily recognized or erased. Only Mandeville’s Travels, then, acknowledges that the body and social system in which it exists are no longer stable. iii Dedicated to my mother, Linda, my husband, Drew, and to my grandparents, who thought I would be Miss America or the President iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank my advisor, Nick Howe, for his unending patience and willingness to read and discuss my work. Without him, I never would have found the wonderful women of Wonders of the East. He has shown me what it means to be an intellectually engaged member of a scholarly community and an active traveler, thinker, and teacher. I am grateful to Lisa Kiser for her support as well as her thoughtful challenges to my ideas. As the only committee member still in residence, she has had to take on many of the responsibilities of an advisor, and has done so graciously and admirably. Her encouragement has been invaluable. I thank Drew Jones, who has made me a more meticulous scholar of Old English, and who taught me to navigate the Old English corpus online, looking for obscure Anglo- Saxon body parts. Without his kind assistance and insightful conversation, this dissertation would not have been completed. I also wish to thank members of the English department not on my dissertation committee. Ethan Knapp has always been willing to talk with me and to help me untangle the knots in my thinking. Debra Moddelmog and Amanpal Garcha offered excellent guidance and conversation. Susan Williams has been an amazing source of support and encouragement; she has been an active reader of my work who has challenged me and v helped me to become a better writer. A fantastic role model, she balances the demands of scholarship, teaching, and personal life with grace and humor. I am also grateful to Tom Bredehoft, who introduced me to a Beowulf that I could love, and who always gave sincere advice and treated my fledgling ideas with respect. This project could not have been completed without the assistance of the staffs at the British and Bodleian libraries. Thanks also to Jim Bracken, whose advice helped me gain access to the documents I most needed to see. The support of my peers and friends has also been of incalculable value. Thanks to my writing group, Scott Banville, Jen Camden, Cheryl Hindrichs, Theresa Kulbaga, and James Weaver, whose critiques and confidence in my ideas allowed me to complete these chapters. Thanks also to Robyn Malo and Mike Johnston, my most recent medieval readers. I thank my most generous readers Jen Camden and Melissa Ianetta, who immediately and thoroughly read every last word I sent them. Special thanks to Kathleen Gagel, who always listened, advised, and supported me both personally and professionally. Finally, I wish to thank my family for their constant support—for Marjorie Verbrugge’s practical advice, for Mom’s confidence in my ability to work hard, for the Carmichaels’ warm welcome and love, for Drew, who gave continuous comfort and fun, and for Lola, who reminded me that a walk and dinner are sometimes more important than a dissertation. vi VITA April 13, 1975…………………………………Born—Sheridan, Wyoming 2000……………………………………………M.A. English, The Ohio State University 1998……………………………………………B.A. English and Education, University of Northern Colorado 1995……………………………………………A.A., Cottey College 1998-2004……………………………………..Graduate Teaching Associate, The Ohio State University PUBLICATIONS 1. Dana Oswald, “Learning to be Civil: Citizen Judith and Old English Culture.” Rhetorical Democracy: Discursive Practices of Civic Engagement. Eds. Gerard A. Hauser and Amy Grim. London: Erlbaum, 2004. 269-77. 2. Dana Oswald and Melissa Ianetta. Rev. of The Center Will Hold: Critical Perspectives in Writing Center Scholarship.” Ed. Michael A. Pemberton and Joyce Kinkaid. WPA: Writing Program Administrator 27.3 (Spring 2004): 83-85. FIELDS OF STUDY Major field: English vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………....ii Dedication………………………………………………………………………………...iv Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………………….vii Vita…………………………………………………………………………………...…viii Chapters: 1. Introduction: Monsters, Erasure, and the Trace.......................................................1 Monstrosity Defined..……………………………………………………………..6 Always Already: Erasure and the Trace…………………………………………15 Bridging the Gap: Old English to Middle English………………………….........21 2. The Indecent Bodies of the Wonders of the East………………………………...25 The Monstrous in Medieval Literature…………………………………………..25 Manuscripts: Word and Image in Tiberius, Bodley, and Vitellius………..……..29 Identity: Action, Appearance, and Affect………………………………………..38 Three Types of Erasure…………………………………………………….........40 Never Drawing…………………………………………………………..43 Removal………………………………………………………………….49 viii Revising………………………………………………………………….61 Old English Erasure of Sexuality………………………………………………..68 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………74 3. Dismembering: The Erasure of Grendel’s Mother and the Monstrous Body in Beowulf………………………………………………………………….77 The Body of Grendel……………………………………………………….........80 Grendel’s Mother………………………………………………………………...86 Grendel’s Mother’s Actions……………………………………………………...96 Wæpnedman, Wæpenwifestre, and the Failure of the Sword……………..........101 Acts of Erasure……………………………………………………………........108 Beowulf and the Productive Body……………………………………………...120 Conclusions: Centrality and Erasure……………………………………………127 4. Circulation and Transformation: The Monstrous Feminine in Mandeville’s Travels…………………………………………………………....130 Monsters and Manuscripts: The Problem of Popularity………………………..132 Circulation and Monstrosity……………………………………………………137 Monstrosity Defined and Transformed: Old English to Middle English……….141 The Dragon Woman: Out of Circulation………………………………….........146 Necrophilia and the Reproductive Body………………………………………..157 Self-Inflicted Monstrosity………………………………………………………162 Penetrating the Community: The Poison Virgins………………………………172 Conclusions: The Presence of the Monster……………………………………..180 ix 5. Paternity and Monstrosity in the Alliterative Morte Arthure and Sir Gowther……………………………………………………………………..184 Castration and Beheading in the Alliterative Morte Arthure…………………...185 Sir Gowther and the Potential of Transformation………………………………207 “Weryd Mot He Bee”: Transformation and the Trace of the Monstrous………238 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………242 x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Monsters, Erasure, and the Trace Johannes Hartlieb’s 1461 portrait of Alexander the Great shows us an unaccustomed version of the Greek leader (as reprinted in Petzoldt and Neubauer 41). This Alexander wears an elaborate three-peaked crown and a well-cut tunic, neither unusual nor inappropriate attire. His nose is decidedly Roman and his eyebrows pinch together in consternation over light eyes that look intelligent. Despite all the signs of royalty and refinement, this Alexander bears two signs of barbarity: slender tusks and an unkempt beard and hair. His clothes tell us of his wealth and political significance, but his crude animal attributes interrupt and contradict