For those of you interested, you can find a transcription of Dame Sirith as found in the Bodleian Library MS Digby 86 from circa 1275 at the link at the bottom of this post. The transcription is not translated, so for those of you interested in trying to read through some Middle English verse, I thought you might enjoy this.The image to the left is an illumination found in a manuscript containing the poem Roman de la Rose. In it the King of Love (Cupid) has just shot the narrator/protagonist with his first arrow in the eye. This is symbolic of the medieval concepts of love being inspired by sight, as well as of the eyes being the most direct path to the soul. In the Classic and majority of the Medieval periods, love was often described as a sickness which, like a wound, needed proper medical attention.
Revisiting the text of Dame Sirith after watching the Sorceress made me think about the power dynamics being excercised on love and desire during the end of the Middle Ages and the start of the Early Modern period, and how the desire to control such emotions/feelings/passions/desires/thoughts crossed with practices of alchemy, herbalism, healing, and other unsactioned medicinal practices. In a number of the readings, and in the film, one "power" of (female) witches is to make a man desire her for unacceptable sexual activities. Who is blamed for the existenec of such desires? Is this accurate? Who is punished for participating in such activites? Who is excused and how? Who is the victim? Are women today accused of similar "powers" that excuse men of certain actions? Feel free to comment. I know this topic may prompt some strong opinions/viewpoints, so please remain respectful to all.
Have a great weekend! Robey Patrick
(http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/dsfrm.htm).
Within the context of blame for sexual activities the punishment and societal stigma has changed drastically from the middle ages to today. During the middle ages it would seem as though witchcraft was synonymous with illicit sexual activities when practiced by women (witches). Anything from conspiring to mate with an incubus, sexual divination, and curse placing/charms/magical remedies when associated with a woman practitioner seems to pertain to sex. As a result it seems very psychological in nature(Freud). Aside from the actual actions of witchcraft by woman, the consequences are another interesting matter. It appears that the male victim of the witches actions is more or less immune from punishment if on the other end of the sexual magic. The woman (or witch) on the other hand is always the socially culpable and viewed as the aggressor, regardless of who is "right or wrong". As a result they are "interrogated" at least when caught, and sometimes burned at the stake. Now in the middle to upper-middle ages there may be counter examples of culpability of various sexual witchcraft, yet the woman is usually the one who is blamed.
ReplyDeleteNow in terms of modern society and the "powers" that women have over men. In today's society, legally and socially women have an edge in power over men. They hold sexual power over men, and in the workplace that same power is extended. Legally if a woman today accuses a male of any wrongdoing the jury of peers is more apt to sympathize with the woman rather than the male. The middle ages the tables were turned in the favor of men, today it is women that have the power. Understandably, there are counter examples, however in the general context of power, protection and rights women hold power over men in today's world. (and that does not mean that women are witches today)
The victim in the situation of a female witch using her powers to make men desire her more is the man. Men by nature suffer from basing their decisions in life more off of biological needs than women do, sex being one of those needs. If a witch combines the man's needs and her magic then the man apparently becomes helpless. Now if you take the stance that witches do not exist than the women is the victim here and the man just is using "magic" as a means to deflect the blame and rationalize his inappropriate behaviors. During this time it would most always be the females fault for a few reasons. Typically a man's word was worth more than a woman'S. Women that participate in sexual acts outside of marriage were seen as evil, and using magic as an explanation made it easier to explain why these women were evil and why the men acted in the way they did.
ReplyDeleteIn modern days women still hold certain powers over men in the realm of sexuality. There is a double standard for everything sexual when comparing the two genders. Men are expected to try and have as much sex as possible while women that do that get labels like slut or whore. Then there is problem where men are more likely to get in trouble for sexual harassment in the workplace as women have no problems with reporting offenders while men sometimes do because his peers will not understand why a man would stop sexual advances. The list of double standards go on and on but for the most part the sexual realm has power in the favor of women. Women are not accused of magical powers anymore these days but instead are accused of psychological and legal powers.
I think you both do an excellent job analyzing the way witchcraft was used in the Middle Ages to make women culpable for male desire, teasing out various perspectives, such as from the viewpoints of the hegemonic power structure (men, in this case) and the subaltern (women, respectfully). However, I do wish to push the discussion to a more complex level with regards to contemporary society.
ReplyDeleteHow do "women hold power over men in the realm of sexuality"? Are juries "more apt to sympathize with the woman rather than the male"? Do the laws apply differently towards women than towards men, or does one gender more commonly violate work ethics with regards to sexual harassment?
Separating the topic from sexuality specifically, "in the general context of power, protection and rights" do "women hold power over men in today's world"? A few counter-examples:
1. Power. As of 2008, the "gender pay gap" in the United States is .77, meaning when comparing median earnings for yearly, full-time work, women earn 77% of what men earn (See page 11 http://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/p60-238.pdf)
2. Protection. With regards to law enforcement, less than one in five police officers are women. Women make up 17% of congress (see http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL30261.pdf), and hold 3 of 9 Supreme Court seats.
3. Rights. The ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) failed, meaning that certain distinctions between the sexes still remain in our courts of law, with women much more often than men having to prove that they deserve equal treatment.
Returning to the question of sexuality, if women do not have power over men in society except in the ambiguous, ill-defined space of "sexuality", is this concept of "female sexuality" as a power not very similar to the idea of witchcraft?
Robey Patrick