Upper-Class Women as Plot Devices in Medieval Literature

Introduction: Women as Gilded Cages

Upper-class women are often thought of as living a grand life free of great responsibilities. While this may be the case at times — getting to travel and wearing the latest fashions — they are sometimes more like birds in gilded cages, made to look pretty and forced to sing a tune not of their own making. In The Knight's Tale, Othello, and Le Morte d'Arthur, the authors write about upper-class women either as beings to be worshipped and obsessed over, or as something to be conquered and taken — or both. These authors use female characters not as characters in themselves, but rather as plot devices to move the story forward, becoming motivations for the much more complex male characters to literally fight over.

Female Characters in Le Morte d'Arthur

While the focus of Le Morte d'Arthur is for the most part exclusively on the male characters, the female characters have an important part in the plot — albeit frequently in a subservient role. Serving as motivation for the male characters to behave bravely through battles, war, and jousting, they lack any true character development or identity. Most of the women, for example, are not even given names, while minor male characters are granted both a name and a lineage.

Another thing worth noting is that the only power women are shown to possess in the story is sexual power. They are portrayed as a threat to men by being seducers, temptresses, or sorceresses. The most powerful female character is Guenever, the wife of King Arthur, whose affair with Sir Launcelot brings ruin to the fellowship of the Round Table. It is no wonder, then, that the depiction of upper-class women in the work can be seen as less than positive. Lacking power, respect, identity, and apparently self-control, these women are shown in a negative light by Sir Thomas Malory, even as they are simultaneously desired and fawned over. They are beautiful and they exist as motivations for men, yet they have no identity beyond that of sexual temptation and desire.

For example, in Book 19, Chapters 1–13, the role of Guenever and Launcelot's affair takes center stage and provides the catalyst for many of the events in that book — including the kidnapping of Queen Guenever by Sir Meliagrance and his subsequent death at Launcelot's hands following his imprisonment. The affair and Launcelot's love for his queen provide not only a device to advance the plot but also create ongoing moments of drama, as Sir Agravaine seeks to expose it. Furthermore, it removes Launcelot from his quest for spiritual greatness by continually pulling his focus toward the earthly reward of loving Queen Guenever. She has no control over how she feels and serves only to embody Launcelot's character flaw.

Desdemona and Female Agency in Othello

Othello depicts women in a similar light — lacking identity, autonomy, and control. Desdemona, the newly wedded wife of Othello, is the object of Iago's obsession born of jealousy over the marriage. When her father learns of the union, Othello is made to explain how he wooed her. Desdemona then gives her own testimony about how they fell for each other and is permitted to accompany him to Cyprus. While this scene does not necessarily portray her in a negative light, it is once again Desdemona's existence that motivates much of the plot. She is the reason Iago sets these events in motion — he wants her for himself and cannot bear that she married Othello.

This pattern, common in stories of the period and even in many modern narratives, reinforces the idea that women are mere instruments of seduction rather than people in their own right. When Iago tells Roderigo that Desdemona's "blood is made dull with the act of sport" and that she will eventually seek sexual satisfaction elsewhere (II.i.222), he removes any sense of choice or power from her as a person. This erasure of agency further reduces women to things to be taken rather than people deserving of respect and understanding.

Iago exploits this belief — that women cannot control themselves — to suggest to Othello that his former lieutenant Cassio is having an affair with Desdemona. Without even attempting to learn the truth from Desdemona herself, Othello spirals into a jealous rage because another man appears to be staking claim to "the land of Desdemona." Also notable are the roles of the other women in the play: the servant Emilia, who steals Desdemona's handkerchief for Iago to plant in Cassio's quarters, and Bianca, the prostitute whom Cassio encounters. These women exist solely to fulfill requests made by men and to advance the plot without contributing meaningfully to it.

Any time a woman attempts to speak out — as Emilia does when Desdemona is smothered by Othello, confessing what Iago had instructed her to do — she is killed for it. Desdemona's plea on Cassio's behalf only cements Othello's suspicions, and she too is killed for her supposed infidelity. When the truth is finally revealed and Othello realizes his terrible mistake, he kills himself as the story closes. Women are treated as pure and delicate objects when a man loves them, yet they can just as easily be branded as whores and murdered because a man suspects another has conquered her.

Conclusion: Worshipped or Conquered

Upper-class women — the most desired women — are often cast as idols to be worshipped, admired for their purity and beauty. Yet they are quickly recast as seductresses and temptresses the moment they are perceived in a sexual light. They also serve as catalysts in all three works examined here — The Knight's Tale, Othello, and Le Morte d'Arthur — because the men who obsess over them are willing to do anything to either attain them or prevent another man from claiming them. To be conquered or to be worshipped: these are the fates that define the female characters of old European literature.