Courtly Love Lancelot Women

Research has shown that while women in romances of the Middle Ages had some sort of power through Courtly Love, the power did not transfer into reality. While there is no correlation between the power in the stories and the power of real women, there are still moments of courtly love in romances where women have power over men. The story of Lancelot written by Chretién de Troyes supports the idea of women gaining power through Courtly Love because he continually shows women as having more power in situations where men are courting them, especially sexual power. In Lancelot, Guinevere is in a position of power over Lancelot because she is the queen, but also because she has sexual power over him. This power cannot be seen as Guinevere having …show more content…
Lancelot ripping the iron bars and hurting himself in the process but continuing to pursue the queen is an ideal situation of courtly love. He goes out of his way to show Guinevere that he wants to be with her, and that he would do almost anything to be with her. After Lancelot leaves Guinevere in the morning he notices that he cut his finger and “did not grow angry with himself, since he would rather have had his two arms pulled from his body than not have entered through the window” (265). Although these acts of courtly love give the queen power, her power is based on Lancelot’s lust for her. If he were not going to be able to have sex with her, he would not have been so willing to injure himself or put her in a position of power over him; Lancelot even thinks this to himself: “Yet, if he had so seriously injured himself for any other purpose, he would have been most upset and distressed” …show more content…
Even though the queen asked Lancelot to fight poorly, which means that his reputation will suffer, he does it. He “gladly” fights horribly in front of many potential wives just to please the queen (277). When the queen hears that Lancelot will fight poorly for her, “she knew beyond a doubt that that knight was the one to whom she belonged completely; and she knew, too, that he was fully hers” (279). This shows the queen in a high position of power through an act of courtly love because she knows that Lancelot is doing what she wants because he belongs to her. Lancelot willingly loses multiple fights in order to make his love and lust for the queen known. If he does not do as the queen asks, then she will not be happy with him and in turn will not have sex with him, which is why he is “intent upon doing whatever she may desire” and why “it would never displease [him] to do anything that might please her” (280). This means that this power that the queen has during these fights, which is disguised by the courtly actions of Lancelot, is really only power through lust and the unspoken promise of