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

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6 thoughts on “C.S. Lewis on courtly love”

  1. 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.