# An Introduction to Literary Debate in Late Medieval France: From Le Roman de la Rose to La Belle Dame sans Mercy - Hardcover

by **Joan E. McRae** (Author)

**How medieval poems sparked discussions on women's agency, love, marriage, and honor that prefigured modern feminism**

This  
volume immerses readers in a debate tradition that flourished in France  
during the late Middle Ages, focusing on two works that were both  
popular and controversial in their time: _Le Roman de la Rose_ by thirteenth-century poets Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun and _La Belle Dame sans Mercy_  
by fifteenth-century royal secretary and poet Alain Chartier. This is  
the first comparative volume on these important works and the  
discussions they sparked.

Engaging with questions of  
women's agency, love, marriage, and honor, these two poems prompted  
responses that circulated via treatises, letters, and sermons among  
officials, clerics, and poets. Joan McRae provides commentary on the two  
texts, a timeline and summary of the resulting debates, and  
biographical sketches of the leading intellectuals who matched wits over  
different ways of reading the texts, including pioneering writer  
Christine de Pizan. McRae shows that these works and the debates, read  
together, consider a range of social issues that raise questions of  
gender, the place of power and hierarchy in societal relationships, and  
the responsibility of writers for the effect of their works on readers.

_An Introduction to Literary Debate in Late Medieval France_ is  
a helpful overview of these weighty arguments for both students and  
scholars. McRae provides a compact, comprehensive, and up-to-date study,  
spotlighting influential literary expressions that evolved into the  
"querelle des femmes," the "woman question," which in turn paved the way  
for modern feminism.

A  
volume in the series New Perspectives on Medieval Literature: Authors  
and Traditions, edited by R. Barton Palmer and Tison Pugh  

**Number of Pages:** 264

**Dimensions:** 0.81 x 8.5 x 5.5 IN

**Publication Date:** February 20, 2024

## Details

- **Price:** 129.6 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 129.60 USD | In stock |

## Images

- An Introduction to Literary Debate in Late Medieval France: From Le Roman de la Rose to La Belle Dame sans Mercy - Hardcover

---

> Source: [Smart supply deals](https://smartsupplydeals.com/products/an-introduction-to-literary-debate-in-late-medieval-france-from-le-roman-de-la-rose-to-la-belle-dame-sans-mercy-hardcover)
> Updated: 2026-07-22