The Masculine Self in Late Medieval England (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780226569574)

What did it mean to be a man in medieval England? Most would answer this question by alluding to the power and status men enjoyed in a patriarchal society, or they might refer to iconic images of chivalrous knights. While these popular ideas do have their roots in the history of the aristocracy, the experience of ordinary men was far more complicated.
Marshalling a wide array of colorful evidence--including legal records, letters, medical sources, and the literature of the period--Derek G. Neal here plumbs the social and cultural significance of masculinity during the generations born between the Black Death and the Protestant Reformation. He discovers that social relations between men, founded on the ideals of honesty and self-restraint, were at least as important as their domination and control of women in defining their identities. By carefully exploring the social, physical, and psychological aspects of masculinity, The Masculine Self in Late Medieval England offers a uniquely comprehensive account of the exterior and interior lives of medieval men.

Author: Derek G. Neal
ISBN-10: 0226569578
ISBN-13: 9780226569574
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Language: English
Published: 12/15/2008
Pages: 320
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.80h x 5.90w x 0.70d

Review Citation(s):
Chronicle of Higher Education 03/13/2009 pg. 19
Choice 11/01/2009