Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Journal

The idea of chivalry came about in the Anglo-Norman period of medieval history and is understood to be a complex code of rules for behavior. One of these rules was to respect women. Furthermore, in many literary texts of the period, when a chivalrous gentleman hopes to offer love to a lady, he is expected to devote his entire life to his beloved. This would lead some to believe that chivalry gave women influence over their male counterparts during the medieval period. In this project, I analyze how the chivalric code gives or denies women power and agency in the texts of Marie de France.