An English translation of “Le Chastoiement des Dames” by Robert de Blois: courtly conduct books and what they assume about medieval women
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Authors
Williams, Jaidyn
Advisor
Thorington, Ellen
Issue Date
2023-05
Keyword
Degree
Thesis (B.?)
Department
Honors College
Other Identifiers
CardCat URL
Abstract
For my senior honors thesis, I wrote a translation of the thirteenth century courtesy text Le Chastoiement des Dames by Robert de Blois, from the original Old French to modern English. This text deals with proper courtly conduct for women, through the lens of finding love. Providing 756 lines of advice, Robert instructs women on how to present themselves, behave themselves, and approach social situations with men. To contextualize my translation, I also wrote an essay discussing medieval courtesy texts and their significance to women. Looking at the Chastoiement, as well as some other similar texts, I discussed how perception of women influenced them, and how that came to change.