중세 후기 로맨스 속 사회적 신분과 결혼

Abstract

During the medieval age, individual choice and marital affection did not seem to have served as the important factors to determine the marriage. Social status and economic factors crucially worked to constrain individual choice. Along with such factors as age and appearance, the issue of social class was described as one of the potentially disabling factors in marriage. In Andreas's De Amore, the focus is given to social class, and the dialogues powerfully assert the importance of social class in relation to love and the problems involved in trying to transcend its division. The issue of love and social class are handled somewhat directly in his work such as The Parliament of Fowls, as well as ironically in The Wife of Bath's Tale. Social class as the most important factor for considering marriage was more emphasized than ever before in the late Middle age, which reflects the social and economic transition from a patriarchal feudalism to a proto-capitalism. As the period wore on, marriage became more 'class-determined' and served as a means for 'class solidarity,' and as a stepping stone for the cohesion of community as well as the harmony of family.