Sign-In
Cart
The Trial of Womankind: A Rhyming Translation of Book IV of the Fifteenth-Century Le Champion des Dames
Paperback
Literary CriticismPoetry CriticismGeneral Poetry
ISBN13: 9780786422401
Publisher: McFarland & Company
Published: Jul 15 2005
Pages: 232
Weight: 0.71
Height: 0.54 Width: 6.10 Depth: 9.04
Language: English
Medieval literature makes it plain that the Battle of the Sexes has been alive and raging since at least the Middle Ages. As depicted by Martin Le Franc in Le Champion des Dames, this battle takes on literally epic proportions. Translated from the original Middle French by Steven Millen Taylor, the fourth book of Le Franc's poem comes to life for the modern English reader as The Trial of Womankind.
This allegorical poem from the mid-fifteenth century offers a dynamic dialogue between both sides of the Querelle des Femmes, the debate over women. In rhyming octaves, Le Franc constructs an allegorical courtroom where two attorneys named Free Will and Slow Wit argue, respectively, the cases for and against women. Calling upon classical and contemporary examples from the Nine Muses and the Queen of Sheba to the Popess Joan and Joan of Arc, the attorneys tell a lively story while making plain the political, religious, and social issues of the time. With subtle humor, keen insight, and compelling erudition, Le Franc invites his readers to participate in this exchange over questions still relevant today.
This translation faithfully renders the literal meaning of the Middle French text while maintaining the original ababbcbc rhyme scheme and stanzaic structure essential to the voice of the work. With historical introduction and notes.
Also in
Poetry Criticism
The Poet's Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry
Laux, Dorianne
Addonizio, Kim
Paperback
Letters to a Young Poet: With the Letters to Rilke from the ''Young Poet''
Kappus, Franz Xaver
Searls, Damion
Rilke, Rainer Maria
Hardcover
Economy of the Unlost: (Reading Simonides of Keos with Paul Celan) (Nobel Prize Winner)
Carson, Anne
Paperback
Faeries, Sprites & Malevolent Spirits: An Anthology of Classic Poetry & Stories
Thorne, Aurora
Hardcover
Poem a Day: 366 Poems, Old and New - One for Each Day of the Year
Albery, Nicolas
McCosker, Karen
Paperback
A Literary Dog for Every Day of the Year: Mischievous Mutts and Faithful Friends - Literature's Waggiest Tales
Richardson, Tara
Hardcover
Man Who Would Marry Susan Sontag: And Other Intimate Literary Portraits of the Bohemian Era
Rosebrough, Amy L.
Field, Edward
Paperback
Leaves of Grass: The Complete 1855 and 1891-92 Editions: A Library of America Paperback Classic
Whitman, Walt
Paperback
Poetry from Spaceship Earth: Empire and Ecology in Post-1945 American Poetry
Rahimtoola, Samia
Paperback
Three Simple Lines: A Writer's Pilgrimage Into the Heart and Homeland of Haiku
Goldberg, Natalie
Hardcover