The Medieval Poet as Voyeur

Whileloveisprivate,andinmedievalliteratureespeciallyisseenasdemandingsecrecy,totellstoriesaboutitistomakeitpublic.Looking,oftenaccompaniedbylistening,isthemeansbywhichloveisbroughtintothepublicrealmandbywhichlegalevidenceofadulterouslovecanbeobtained.Medievalromancescontainmanyscenesinwhichsecretwatchersandlistenersplayleadingroles,andinwhichtheproblematicrelationofsighttotruthisacentraltheme.Theeffectofsuchscenesistoplacethepoem'saudienceassecretwatchersandlisteners;andinlatermedievalnarratives,astheroleofthestorytellercomestoberealized,thepoettooseeshimselfintheundignifiedroleofavoyeur.A.C.Spearing'sbookexplorestheseandrelatedthemes,firstinrelationtomedievalandmoderntheoriesandinstancesoflooking,andthenthroughaseriesofreadingsofromancesandfirst-personnarratives,includingworksbyBeroul,GottfriedvonStrassburg,ChrétiendeTroyes,MariedeFrance,Chaucer,Lydgate,Douglas,Dunbar,andSkelton.Itsfocusonlookingalsoleadstotherecoveryofsomelesswell-knownworkssuchasPartonopeofBloisandTheSquireofLowDegree.Thegeneralapproachispsychoanalytic,butthereadingofspecificmedievaltextsalwayshasprimacy,andthisinturnmakespossiblearunningcritiqueofcurrentconceptionsofthegazeinrelationtopowerandgender.