IMC 2020: Sessions

Session 1344: Noblewomen Pushing the Boundaries, IV: Literary Approaches to Agency and Gender

Wednesday 8 July 2020, 16.30-18.00

Organisers:	Harriet Kersey, School of Humanities, Canterbury Christ Church University Charlotte Pickard, Centre for Continuing & Professional Education, Cardiff University
Moderator/Chair:	Katherine J. Lewis, Department of History, University of Huddersfield
Paper 1344-a	'Ye were caught er that ye wiste' Criseyde's Struggle for Control in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde (Language: English) Ariana Ellis, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto, Downtown Index terms: Language and Literature - Middle English, Women's Studies
Paper 1344-b	The Lioness Paints Herself: Christine de Pizan, The Treasure of the City of Ladies, and the Boundaries of Gender and Lordship (Language: English) Jordan Schoonover, Department of History Ohio State University Index terms: Daily Life, Gender Studies, Women's Studies
Paper 1344-c	In Her Own Words: Margaret Paston's Agency in 15th-Century Norfolk (Language: English) Mikee Delony, Department of Language & Literature, Abilene Christian University, Texas Index terms: Gender Studies, Women's Studies
Paper 1344-d	Writing Women and Power: Lady Godiva (Language: English) Sue Johns, Dr. S. Johns, 1, Top of University of Sheffield Index terms: Gender Studies, Women's Studies
Abstract	Women frequently had to negotiate the boundaries between society's expectations and their lived experience - at times working against the roles traditionally ascribed to them. Noblewomen occupied a unique position in society which, arguably, afforded them greater agency and access to power. And yet, they too had to navigate boundaries, often pushing beyond what was perceived to be the norm. This session is centred on textual interpretations and representations of noblewomen from England and France, considering what they can tell us about agency and gender.