The Legend of (patriarchally) Good Women: an Analysis of Gender Discrimination
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Date
2017
Authors
Hakman, Ekmel Emrah
Gültekin, Azade Lerzan
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Abstract
Geoffrey Chaucer, İyi Kadınlar Destanı isimli eserinin Önsöz'ünde, daha önceki eserleri kadın karşıtı olduğu için aşk tanrısı Cupid tarafından cezalandırıldığını ve kadınları hak ettikleri gibi iyi gösteren bir eser yazması gerektiğine dair bir rüya gördüğünü belirtir. Bu açından İyi Kadınlar Destanı, feminist çalışmaların ilk örneklerinden biri ve Chaucer'ın önceki eserlerinde ortaya koyduğu kadın düşmanlığına dair özür olması beklenir. Ancak çeşitli nedenlerle İyi Kadınlar Destanı'nın bu işlevi yerine getirmediği görülmektedir. İyi Kadınlar Destanı, klasik edebiyattan alınmış on kadının hayatını aktaran dokuz destandan oluşur. Bu karakterler Kleopatra, Thisbe, Hypsipyle, Medea, Lucretia, Ariadne, Philomela, Phyllis, and Hypermestra'dan oluşmaktadır. Ancak, Chaucer'ın seçtiği bu isimler, bizzat Önsöz'ünde belirttiği şekilde kadınları olumlu biçimde gösterecek bir içerik ortaya koymamaktadır. Söz konusu kadınların hayatlarından seçilen olaylara dair ortaya koyduğu aktarımlar, kadınların iffetli ve erkeklere kıyasla eşit derecede iyi ve zeki olduklarına dair bir tablo sunma konusunda Chaucer'ın başarısız olduğu sonucuna varmamıza sebep olmaktadır. Bu tablonun aksine, Chaucer'ın tasvirleri, kelime seçimleri ve İyi Kadınlar Destanı'ndaki kadınların hayatlarını mahveden erkekleri eserine ekleme biçimi, Chaucer'ın ataerkil cinsiyet rollerini destekleyen ve dolayısıyla yine kadın karşıtı bir eser yarattığına işaret etmektedir. Günümüz feminist yaklaşımlarını bir 14. yüzyıl eserine uygulamak pek mümkün olmadığı için bu tez, söz konusu on kadına dair diğer tarihsel aktarımlarla İyi Kadınlar Destanı'nın karşılaştırılmasına da yoğunlaşmıştır. Ek olarak, Christine de Pizan'ın yazdığı ve İyi Kadınlar Destanı ile çağdaş sayılabilecek bir eser olan Le Livre de la Cité des Dames ile yapılan karşılaştırma, iki eserin beş ortak karaktere sahip olması nedeniyle tez konusunun desteklenmesine katkı yapmıştır. Bu tez, Geoffrey Chaucer'ın eserde açıkça belirttiği amaca rağmen, İyi Kadınlar Destanı'nın ataerkil sosyal normlar ve cinsiyet rollerini güçlendiren bir eser olduğu sonucuna varmıştır.
Geoffrey Chaucer dreams in his Prologue to The Legend of Good Women that he is given the task of composing a work about presenting good women as a punishment by Cupid for the crimes against love in his previous works. In this sense, The Legend of Good Women is supposed to be a feminist work, among the first examples of feminist discourse, as a palinode, which is to excuse Chaucer's previous misogynist writings. Nevertheless, this thesis claims that due to various reasons The Legend of Good Women fails to accomplish the task above. The Legend of Good Women is composed of nine legends narrating the lives of ten classical women, namely Cleopatra, Thisbe, Hypsipyle, Medea, Lucretia, Ariadne, Philomela, Phyllis, and Hypermnestra. However, the catalogue of women selected by Chaucer does not provide him with the material to serve his intention to write an anti-sexist work. The narratives he provides on the certain incidents experienced by these women lead us to conclude that he fails to provide a full picture on how women are chaste, equally good, or intelligent in comparison to men. Contrarily, his depictions, certain wording, and inclusion of the historical men who doomed the women of The Legend of Good Women create yet another sexist work that confirms the patriarchal gender roles. As it is not suitable to apply recent feminist discourses to a 14th century work, this thesis also makes use of the comparison of the legends of The Legend of Good Women with the classical narratives on the ten women in question. Additionally, the near-contemporary work by Christine de Pizan, Le Livre de la Cité des Dames, is used as another text to compare the two different representations of women belonging to the same era. Christine de Pizan's work and Chaucer's The Legend of Good Women share stories of five women, and therefore such a comparison is significant in order to exemplify how and why Chaucer's work is misogynist and sexist. This thesis arrives at the conclusion that Geoffrey Chaucer's Legend of Good Women is a work enforcing patriarchal social norms and gender roles despite the clear aim stated by its poet.
Geoffrey Chaucer dreams in his Prologue to The Legend of Good Women that he is given the task of composing a work about presenting good women as a punishment by Cupid for the crimes against love in his previous works. In this sense, The Legend of Good Women is supposed to be a feminist work, among the first examples of feminist discourse, as a palinode, which is to excuse Chaucer's previous misogynist writings. Nevertheless, this thesis claims that due to various reasons The Legend of Good Women fails to accomplish the task above. The Legend of Good Women is composed of nine legends narrating the lives of ten classical women, namely Cleopatra, Thisbe, Hypsipyle, Medea, Lucretia, Ariadne, Philomela, Phyllis, and Hypermnestra. However, the catalogue of women selected by Chaucer does not provide him with the material to serve his intention to write an anti-sexist work. The narratives he provides on the certain incidents experienced by these women lead us to conclude that he fails to provide a full picture on how women are chaste, equally good, or intelligent in comparison to men. Contrarily, his depictions, certain wording, and inclusion of the historical men who doomed the women of The Legend of Good Women create yet another sexist work that confirms the patriarchal gender roles. As it is not suitable to apply recent feminist discourses to a 14th century work, this thesis also makes use of the comparison of the legends of The Legend of Good Women with the classical narratives on the ten women in question. Additionally, the near-contemporary work by Christine de Pizan, Le Livre de la Cité des Dames, is used as another text to compare the two different representations of women belonging to the same era. Christine de Pizan's work and Chaucer's The Legend of Good Women share stories of five women, and therefore such a comparison is significant in order to exemplify how and why Chaucer's work is misogynist and sexist. This thesis arrives at the conclusion that Geoffrey Chaucer's Legend of Good Women is a work enforcing patriarchal social norms and gender roles despite the clear aim stated by its poet.
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İngiliz Dili ve Edebiyatı, Chaucer, Geoffrey, Chaucer, Geoffrey, Edebiyat, English Linguistics and Literature, Feminizm, Chaucer, Geoffrey, Chaucer, Geoffrey, Feminizm, Literature, Feminism, Kadınlar, Feminism, The Legend of Good Women, Women, The Legend of Good Women, İngiliz edebiyatı, English literature
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