The Concept of Woman in Medieval Georgian and European Thought (from Rustaveli to Shakespeare)
Journal Title: Pro Georgia. Journal of Kartvelological Studies - Year 2016, Vol 0, Issue 26
Abstract
The concept of woman has always been a subject of great interest in the history of world literature. Various epochs have created extremely interesting and very different images of women in literature, images which have undergone a great deal of transformation over time. The Middle Ages brought about a complete transformation of the image of women. During this period, women were re-discovered not as evil, but as the source of generosity. The period started to experience a kind of ambivalent attitude towards women. Christianity was the driving force behind the gradual change in the way women were depicted in contemporary thought and culture: Virgin Mary was held up as the paragon of the perfect woman. However, at the same time, women were represented as an evil power hindering the individual’s quest for the ideal. Two totally different images of women emerged – a sinful Eve and a Virgin Mary. Seeing women as evil was mostly prevalent in the West. Such a viewpoint was unpopular in Georgia owing to the fact that Georgia was considered to be allotted to the Virgin and also this is the place where Christianity was preached by a woman. Furthermore, the fi rst king of Georgia was a woman – Tamar. The 12th Century is considered to be the epoch for emancipation of a woman. This is the period of the history when Rustaveli created his epic The Man in the Panther Skin, which shows a dominant character of a woman along with the ability to express her own free will. According to the scholarly studies he brought novelty in the formation of the image of women, by creating a dreamlike real image of his hero (Nestan). The signifi cant novelty of recent decades in Rustvelology (the plot of MPS was used in the English dramaturgy of the 17th Century) has made it possible to perform a parallel study of the artistic images of Imogen and her prototype from the MPS, Nestan. Related to these mentioned women there is also revealed one more signifi cant Shakespearian image of Helena (All’s Well That Ends Well), who, in most cases, is observed as a terrestrial image of the Virgin by Critics. It should be noted the image of a woman and the attitude to her changes in the wake of the epoch. The fi gures of the antic times tend to reveal a unanimous attitude to a woman. However, the opinion of clerical circles to the issue is different. Although a woman in the early period of Georgian literature is demanded to show obedience towards a man, she cans still stay unwavering and individual in her decisions. The European literature reveals a new model of a woman – a woman medium, adopted by the Georgian literature, by Guramishvili, in particular. Here, a terrestrial woman is represented as power taking a man to the heaven where the woman herself turns into a Christ. However, regardless the epoch it was written, The MPs shows totally different image of the woman. Rustaveli, outpacing the established attitude of the epoch creates a strong face of an initiative woman with freedom in choice, ready to do anything for her love. This is the woman who fi ghts to survive. This model of the character being innovative for the Romance style of the English drama was adopted and made into the plot source of the Europe of Renaissance epoch, Shakespeare, in particular. On the other hand, English dramaturgy represents a woman who is vividly connected to the Virgin enriched by terrestrial features in an accord with the modern culture.
Authors and Affiliations
Tamta Grigolia
Keywords
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