“Al we wilniþ to ben old. wy is eld ihatid”: Aging and Ageism in Le Bone Florence of Rome

Abstract

This article explores the ways in which old age, as a socially constituted concept, functions to regulate the needs and desires of the aged during the natural course of aging and the ways in which an aging subject struggles to adapt to old age as a state of being. With the centenarian Garcy in Le Bone Florence of Rome as the focus, the discussion reconsiders his frail body in the context of medieval medicine, examines his desire for young Florence against the backdrop of medieval ethics, and understands his rise and doomed failure within the ageist framework of romance, as well as the penitential context of the manuscript CUL Ff. 2.38. Struggling with his own physical degradation and desires in opposition to social expectations of his age, the character of Garcy, “misbehaving” and “rebellious,” challenges, albeit to no avail, the injustice of ageism inflicted upon him. His final attempt at reversing the course of aging and unconsoled death urge readers to take a fresh look at the reality that the old have as many needs and desires as people from all other age groups.