Women from the Medieval Male Perspective

Abstract

In this work, the book Good Wife of Paris (Le Menagier de Paris) serves as the beginning point for a discussion of the place of women in medieval society. It also demonstrates how current women have been influenced by the discipline of women in Western European culture from the Middle Ages onward, as shown in some of its literature. This article focuses on how men treated women in the Middle Ages and attempts to explore the historical roots of this discrimination. In the book Le Menagier de Paris, it is made clear that the wife is subject to the husband and offers a set of guidelines for newlywed women in the voice of a medieval aristocratic male. The analysis of Le Menagier de Paris reveals that the medieval order of marriage was male-dominated, and that this marriage structure has influenced modern weddings. The study focuses on the medieval order of marriage and the status of women as expressed in its contents.