The Floure and the Leafe, The Assembly of Ladies, The Isle of Ladies

Edited by Derek Pearsall

Book cover: The Floure and the Leafe, The Assembly of Ladies, The Isle of Ladies

Extent: 152 pages

Publisher: Medieval Institute Publications

Subjects: Literary Studies, Medieval Studies

Series: TEAMS Middle English Texts Series

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(December 1990)

ISBN: 9780918720436

7.01 x 10 inches

Price: $12.95

In stock

PDF (Published)

(December 1990)

ISBN: 9781580444132

Price: $12.00

An asset to any study of gender in medieval England, this volume contains three poems that complement each other in their treatments of relations between the sexes. The Floure and the Leafe explores the courtly imagery of the flower and leaf, wherein the flower symbolizes the fickleness and shallow attraction characteristic of men, compared to the evergreen persistence of the leaf, likened to the long-suffering of women. Meanwhile, The Assembly of Ladies recounts the activities of a group of women while describing the differences between the sexes. Finally, the dream poem The Isle of Ladies tells of a male dreamer’s interactions with the ladies of an all-female island. All of the poems include contextualizing introductions and helpful glosses; there is also an extensive glossary for the entire volume, rendering the volume useful to not only beginning students of Middle English but also to more advanced students of this topic.

The Floure and the Leafe


The Assembly of Ladies
The Isle of Ladies
Bibliography
Glossary
  • Edited by Derek Pearsall