In all the medieval courtly romances the male character was treated much superior to the female characters. The romance mainly contained details about the courageous, daring and brave heroes who were always ready to fight with anything that comes in their way.

The medieval cultures and laws affected the actions of women to a much greater extent. The man made codes applied a great deal of constraint on women who might otherwise have acted differently.

The Emancipated Medieval Woman
In the beginning many writers wrote historical novels keeping in mind only the male protagonist, but in the later part of the period many women authors stared writing about the middle class women who were liberated and educated. These novels suggested a female quest for freedom and independence, epitomized by the later suffragette movement. With the emancipation of women came the more liberated romance novels. Women were given more freedom and independence.

But this change could be only seen in the novels written in the later ages. Women in the medieval time periods were often considered as no more than property that were forced to live at the mercy of their father, guardian, or the king. The heroines of the medieval novels had to use their wits to find a husband who would accept their needs to be independent, yet still protect them from the dangers of the times.

The heroes in these novels were always strong and dominant, and the heroine, despite the gains she made, was usually still in a subordinate position. In the majority of courtly romances, the female character identifies with the romantic notion of the damsel in distress.

Defying the Medieval Conventions
A particular code usually governed medieval women’s actions towards sex and marriage. It was assumed generally that a woman would have her husband chosen for her. Female passivity often involved financial practicalities and man made rule which were set to govern them.

Arranged marriages were usually settled very early on in a woman’s life, it is also shown in romantic fictions that marriages did occur when the female was just a baby or a young girl. But many authors experimented in the medieval times and made a woman as their central strong character.

The women in these novels were unconventional, liberated and open minded. They had the power to rebel against the restrictions imposed by the society on them. By such novels the writers wants to convince the readers that the female characters have an identity in their own right and that woman can defy the medieval ties which bind them to the structure of society.

Tags: Defying the Medieval Conventions, Emancipated Medieval Woman, female figure in medieval courtly