Classism and Female Sexual Deviancy in the Middle Ages

There seems to be a profound difference between the sexual lives of upper and lower class women in the Middle Ages, specifically that upper class women were more heavily scrutinized and judged than lower class women when it came to sexual actions. This isn’t to say that lower class women escaped all scrutiny, but they seemed to have less repercussions from their actions than those of a higher class. Whereas higher class women would be publicly punished and reviled for any sexual promiscuity, sexual promiscuity in middle to lower class women seemed to be overlooked or even found amusing. We can view this difference in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Miller’s Tale” and Beroul’s “Tristan”, where two different women take part in sexual dalliances that lead them down two different paths.

In “The Miller’s Tale” the main female character is named Alisoun. Alisoun is married to a man much older than she is and because of this, ends up desiring a younger man by the name of Nicholas. On the sidelines is a third man, Absalon, who also wishes to make Alisoun his own. This leaves Alisoun with three different potential suitors/husbands which was quite a large number of men for a woman to interact with, especially when she is already married. By the end of the tale, Alisoun runs off with Nicholas and faces virtually no repercussions or reprimands from anyone in the story.

For a woman in the Middle Ages, this is quite unusual. Generally one such woman would be castigated and punished for her sexual deviancy on multiple accounts such as adultery, promiscuity, and potential polygamy. But instead of being scorned or at least mocked for her actions, Alisoun becomes an amusing character, one who makes her audience laugh at her sexual antics. I believe this is because of her lower class position in society. As discussed by Judith Bennett and Ruth Karras in their article “Women, Gender, and Medieval Historians”, lower class women were not forced to maintain gender roles as stringently as upper class women did. I believe this carries over into the sexual field for lower class women as well. While upper class women were generally required to maintain an air of righteousness and purity, lower class women were more concerned with daily survival and taking care of their children. Because of this, lower class women were not held to the same standards or scrutinized as thoroughly as high class women.

In juxtaposition to this, the Queen in Beroul’s “Tristan” is vilified and nearly burnt to death for her promiscuity. Instead of remaining faithful to King Mark, the Queen sleeps with her lover Tristan and is caught. Once caught, the Queen is sentenced a publicly punished, at first threatened to be burned but then given over to a colony of lepers. I believe that the Queen would not have received such punishment if she had been of lower station. She suffered the wrath of a King scorned and because such a man is privileged and powerful, the Queen’s death had to be made into a spectacle so King Mark could keep his pride. The Queen residing in the public eye ends up being her downfall, at least when it comes to critique over her sexual promiscuity.