Visualizing Women in the Middle Ages

"During the high Middle Ages in Europe, the act of looking was surrounded by superstition. It was believed to have magic power, it was able to arouse anxiety, and it was the subject of lengthy texts by both men and women. In Visualizing Women in the Middle Ages, Madeline H. Caviness interrogates the contemporary theory of the gaze and concedes that the "male gaze" - first articulated by Laura Mulvey and a cornerstone of much feminist criticism - is useful for understanding a cultural code of patriarchy in the high Middle Ages. However, she argues, one should take into account the many varying visual modes that proliferated in the medieval era. For Caviness, an awareness of historical context places pressure upon contemporary theories like that of the "male gaze," changing their shapes and creating even richer dialogues with the past."--BOOK JACKET.