The following is an excerpt of C.S. Lewis’ book The Allegory of Love: A Study of the Medieval Tradition, which can be purchaced from Amazon
6 thoughts on “C.S. Lewis on courtly love”
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The following is an excerpt of C.S. Lewis’ book The Allegory of Love: A Study of the Medieval Tradition, which can be purchaced from Amazon
You must be logged in to post a comment.
It would seem to me that so much of feminism is simply jealousy on the part of working class women to be considered to be as special as the object of such courtly love. Of course, smart women in that position simply become courtesans of one sort or another–and courtesans are always in demand by many wealthy men. Whereas women have long vied for access to the thrills of the upper classes, it would seem that only one dynamic (female superiority) is regularly peddled to those aspirants to the great detriment of those who are ultimately unhappy in that dynamic. Although it might offend the practitioners and aspirants of courtly love, there do indeed exist both men and women who *enjoy* quite the opposite dynamic. Perhaps such persons prefer and preferred in history to practice their arts in secret in order to avoid risking their class standing among the female-on-pedestal fetishists, but when evidence of such is unearthed by feminist historians there is outrage that any “midons” would be so debased as to grovel before *her* master–even if it tickles her fancy to do so. Consensual power exchange in the interest of romance goes both ways. It might so offend and outrage that it is suppressed by history other than, say, the Marquis de Sade, who doubtlessly tried to offend the status quo.
Well said, caprizchka. I’d love to do an article about male sexual masochism in relation to the long courtly love tradition, and of the opposite (but forced somewhat underground) dynamic of female masochist – but I don’t feel equipped to tackle it.
If you are interested in elaborating your thoughts I’d gladly consider an article from you on this blog.
Thank you for that offer! For the moment, I haven’t gone full tilt into the subject outside of my profile and postings on FetLife (and my book which is published under Lulu). Here’s something personal and a bit tame which you might like: http://caprizchka.wordpress.com/2014/03/19/a-tradition-of-emasculation-as-a-class-construct/
This might not have the degree of scholarship you had in mind but if you like please feel free to reblog: http://caprizchka.wordpress.com/2014/04/20/a-politically-incorrect-sexuality/
Read your story – a good example of how masochism and sadism run in families. Reading through some of your other pieces now….
Cheers
Something you may find of interest from a guest blogger: https://caprizchka.wordpress.com/2014/06/14/a-voice-from-the-darkness-guest-blogger/