Like most pre-modern eras of history, medieval Europe was essentially a man’s world. It was no secret that the roles of women in medieval Europe were distinctly defined as subservient and oppressed beings. Most women were limited to house chores and the bearing and rearing of children. How much autonomy they had was dependent on their status or whom they married. Noble women had no more rights than their peasant sisters who tended to livestock and planted vegetables on the farm. However, the quality

Rhetorical devices are tools used in literature to persuade the reader or audience, whether in a poem written in the 14th century or in a speech given in the 20th century. Medieval period literature much like modern literature made good use of literary devices to convey their message. Chaucer, an artist who lived in the medieval period, expressed his opinions about the congregation during that time in his written work and Malcolm X, a Muslim pastor and a human rights activist, who contributed to

“Courtly love” was a popular type of literature used during the Middle Ages that glorifies the romance between a noblewoman and knight. Like many writers in this time period, Chaucer gives an example of a classic plotline used in “courtly love” in the Knight’s Tale and then succeeds with the Miller’s Tale. Unlike the Knight's Tale, the Miller’s Tale gives the perspective of “courtly love” through peasants. Therefore; the concept of “courtly love” that is praised in the Knight’s tale is also satirized

I say all of that and an educated reader may be thinking “This girl is so wrong and has no clue what she is talking about because sexism does exist.” Well, it does, but not in the same way that it existed in medieval times. Medieval literature and outlets that interpret medieval literature depict sexism in a completely different, extremely radical way. Gerald of Wales’ The History and Topography of Ireland follows historian Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald of Wales) on his journey exploring Ireland and

Plato’s The Symposium examines the way at which love is viewed and interpreted. This is accomplished through testaments from guests at the symposium praising Eros, the god of love. Through the telling of these stories, Plato indicates that the numerous interpretations of love allow humans to take love in whatever way works best for them. He does this by exploiting the differences in opinions and approaches of each speaker at the symposium. Eryximachus, a pompous and organized doctor and scientist

This practice of “writing back” is also demonstrated in the humor and laughter in the novel, though as will be discussed later, the effect of the laughter is questionable. In post-colonial writings, the function of humor and laughter is largely associated with its liberating and subversive effects released from the colonized as opposed to the dominance and hegemony of the colonizers. Among the theories of humor, Bakhtin’s concept of carnivalisque laughter is often appropriated by critiques of post-colonial