The Image of Women in Early British Literature

Women are often the subject of literary works, seen as a object to behold or an earthly link to God, however, in the works of early British literature, the image of women ranged from political peace keeper to anti-beauty. The importance of female characters extends past the physical beauty and sexuality of the sex, and actually offers women as symbols of power, strength, and godliness personified, such as in Beowulf. However, throughout the Middle Ages, their image is also associated with superficiality and temptation; a majority of male writers casting women in the role of man's downfall, as seen in Christopher Marlowe's Faustus and Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Several of William Shakespeare's sonnets and plays redirect the focus of the female character as an anti-beauty, a parody of societal norms and like his contemporaries, the procurer of the downfall of man.

In the Old English tradition, women are seen as either dutiful slaves or angelic creatures from heaven. "Yet because Beowulf is foundational for any study of Old English literature, its female characters are regularly the standards by which other women in Old English literature are examined."[1] With most images stemming from Beowulf, women progress and digress from that point in literature. One of the more poignant figures in Beowulf, Wealhtheow, the queen of Heorot and wife to Hrothgar, is given few lines and is introduced to the audience with the obedient task of ensuring that all cups are filled with beer. According to history, the woman of the household or kingdom serviced her husband and the men of the table as the consummate hostess, keeping quiet and keeping the drink poured.

However, with Wealhtheow, her character evolves into a power player, skillfully paralleled by Hygd in their political endeavors. "Perhaps not so obvious, but no less present, are the connections this scene establishes between Wealhtheow and Hygd, both of whom try to determine political and familial succession via the conduit of Beowulf."[2] Initially drawn as a charming and enchanting hostess, Wealhtheow manages to advance towards a more peace keeping and strong female voice of reason with Beowulf. She is transformed from the servant: "The noble wife first gave the cup to the Danish Lord, bidding him the blithe at the beer drinking..."[3] to peace keeping political ambassador: "Someone has told me that you wish to have this hero as a son...Then she turned to the bench where her sons Hrethric and Hrothmund, were seated with the other young warriors, sons of heroes; there Beowulf, the brave Geat, sat by the two brothers."[4] It is with these lines she hopes to engage Beowulf as a newly inducted family member and as a political alliance, a move that is similar to Hygd later in the work.

Wealhtheow's strength lay hidden beneath the veneer of a charismatic queen who had, possibly, her own agenda in Heorot, while Geoffrey Chaucer's Wife of Baths made no attempt to hide her true intentions. The procurer of five husbands, the Wife of Baths offers a strong anti-marriage sentiment and is seen as one of the first feminist characters in Middle English literature. "The Wife defends her practice with the rule that the woman should have mastery in marriage, and triumphantly enforces it through five marriages."[5]

Gap-toothed and red legged, the Wife of Baths is the anti-feminine of the Middle Ages with a strong sense of her own femininity. She is promiscuous, outspoken, and determined to not be directed by any man with whom she comes in contact. She is sexual in nature, and holds true to the notion that marriage is a means to chain women down. "If marriage in the Wife's society is an institution that reduces women to commodities and subordinates feminine sexuality and individuality to the requirements of economic exchange, a woman who wants to defend herself has only the option of using the assets she possesses to play the game herself..."[6] The Wife precedes to use her assets in her own life, but in her own tale as well: "For indeed, I don't want to keep myself entirely chaste; when my husband has gone from this world."[7] Her need for sexual pleasures outweighs her desire to be chaste and virtuous as the women of the Middle Ages were said to be.

Chaucer invokes the reader to find the irony in the Wife of Bath's Tale, and her own life, as well as the other female pilgrims. The Prioress, who is one of the more moralistic characters of the pilgrimage, wears a brooch that reads "Love conquers all." She is coy and delicate; her dainty eating skills are cleverly juxtaposed to her soft hearted ways. These two females are paradoxical, demonstrating the two extremes of the female nature of the time, but it can be speculated that the true sentiment behind the Prioress' brooch is closer to the Wife's sensual beliefs than the notion that courtly love held.

Within the context of Dr. Faustus, Christopher Marlowe explores the image of women as the downfall of man. Conjuring Helen of Troy to be the lover of Faustus, Marlowe uses the greatest beauty known in literature as the symbol of seduction and sin, essentially representing evil herself. Showing the striking magnetism of evil, Marlowe sees women as the ultimate temptation, the consummate sin. "...the scene with Helen is editorially shaped to give us the seduction of Eve all over again, except that the temptress is not only inspired by a demon (as Eve was) but has become a demon herself."[8]

However, her function in the play is not only to give a beauty and seduction to evil, but she also represents the denying of Christian morals to pagan beliefs. With Helen being from a pagan culture, she embodies the paganism of the occult and in effect offers yet another attractive lure to Faustus to turn away from the goodness that is presented by the Christian religion. Marlowe invests deeply in the pagan culture with his mentions of other ancient Greek philosophers and his use of the dark arts, but it is Helen who personifies the disgrace of Faustus and thereby, the disgrace of man. Her temptation of Faustus coincides with Faustus' intellectual ignominy, a clever ploy by Marlowe as the reader can easily parallel the two with Eve in the Garden of Eden. "'Bad' texts, as it would seem, can sometimes become acceptable if they confirm ancient wisdom about the danger of the feminine."[9] With Marlowe's use of Helen as a temptation and a parallel to Eve, the audience is comfortable with danger being represented in a feminine form.

The female image is further marred in the works of William Shakespeare, as he too writes his women to be temptations, weak and powerless. Within his plays, the female form is frail and weak, as in Hamlet; or manipulative and ambitious as in MacBeth. Yet, they are romantic and innocent, like Ophelia and Juliet, but led astray by their emotional desires. In the framework of his sonnets, the female form is parodied and masked. Shakespeare's makes light of the perfection that is insisted upon in his contemporaries and of the ideals that are held within the court of Queen Elizabeth.

Sonnets 127 to 154 are outlined as Shakespeare's poems to the Dark Lady. She is not the idyllic, blonde, fair and chaste lady that was commonplace in the courtly romances, but she is dark, mysterious, and exotic. "Sometimes she is the negatively imagined loveable thing which escapes poetic conventions ('My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun'); she may be the player on the virginals (no gender id specified for that poem) in 128 who is seen, but touched only by the imagination; she lies (in every sense); she may have a venereal disease."[10] She is the consummate anti-beauty, but the fascination she holds over Shakespeare is clear. The Dark Lady is unnamed, which draws more mystery towards her.

Speculation is made as to the true identity of the Dark Lady. With Shakespeare referring to her as his mistress or commonly only as 'thou,' the audience is left to contemplate the person behind the sonnets. "Her role is slightly different in each poem, and there is no particular reason to think of her as one person." [11] It is also thought that the Dark Lady is actually not a female, but a young male that Shakespeare fancies. With earlier sonnets dedicated to a young male friend, it is possible that Shakespeare hid his homosexuality within the guise of a Dark Lady, to avoid being scandalized in a society where homosexuality is not accepted. However, the Dark Lady manages to supersede the implication of Shakespeare's possible homosexuality and lives beyond the sonnets. She is the stained woman, the Mary Magdalene of Middle English literature, and she remains the antithesis of the courtly ideals. The audience continues to be fascinated with her unusual beauty and her striking ability to captivate with whomever she comes in contact.

Historically, women are categorized as servants to men, simply to be seen and not heard, but in literature, the women exceed their historical counterparts and blaze trails for females to follow. On first read, the audience may find their leading ladies typical of the time, quiet and powerless, but when inspected closer, their true identity shines through. The fact that these incredibly strong and powerful women are fashioned by male writers is both ironic and appealing. In times when women were meant to be possessions, certain authors saw both the good and the bad of the female form. Women in early British literature stand beside men, as equals, asserting their gender to not only be seen but be heard.

Endnotes

[1] Horner, Shari. The Disclosure of Enclosure: Representing Women in Old English Literature. Albany State University of New York Press, 2001.

[2] Horner, Shari. The Disclosure of Enclosure: Representing Women in Old English Literature. Albany State University of New York Press, 2001.

[3]Beowulf and Other Old English Poems. Trans. Constance B. Hieatt. New York: Bantam Books, 1988.

[4]Beowulf and Other Old English Poems. Trans. Constance B. Hieatt. New York: Bantam Books, 1967.

[5] Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Ed. Constance and A. Kent Hieatt. New York: Bantam Books, 1964

[6] Leicester, H. Marshall. The Disenchanted Self: Representing the Subject in the Canterbury Tales. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1990.

[7] Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Ed. Constance and A. Kent Hieatt. New York: Bantam Books, 1964

[8] Marcus, Leah S. Unediting the Renaissance: Shakespeare, Marlowe, Milton. London, New York: Taylor and France, 1996.

[9] Marcus, Leah S. Unediting the Renaissance: Shakespeare, Marlowe, Milton. London, New York: Taylor and France, 1996.

[10] Shakespeare, William.; Burrow, Colin. The Complete Sonnets and Poems Oxford World's Classic. New York Oxford University Press (UK), 2002. < http://www.netlibrary.com.dax.lib.unf.edu/Reader/>

[11] Shakespeare, William.; Burrow, Colin. The Complete Sonnets and Poems Oxford World's Classic. New York Oxford University Press (UK), 2002. < http://www.netlibrary.com.dax.lib.unf.edu/Reader/>