Overview

Allegorical Bodies begins with the paradoxical observation that at the same time as the royal administrators of late fourteenth and early fifteenth-century France excluded women from the royal succession through the codification of Salic law, writers of the period adopted the female form as the allegorical personification of France itself. Considering the role of female allegorical figures in the works of Eustache Deschamps, Christine de Pizan, and Alain Chartier, as well as in the sermons of Jean Gerson, Daisy Delogu reveals how female allegories of the Kingdom of France and the University of Paris were used to conceptualize, construct, and preserve structures of power during the tumultuous reign of the mad king Charles VI (1380-1422). An impressive examination of the intersection between gender, allegory, and political thought, Delogu's book highlights the importance of gender to the functioning of allegory and to the construction of late medieval French identity.

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9781442641877

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Reviews

'In Allegorical Bodies, Daisy Delogu offers a fascinating discussion of the emergence of France as a feminized figure at the same time that women were excluded from royal rule.' -- Katherine Clark The Medieval Review November 2015 'Ambitious and beautifully crafted book... Delogu's careful reading and attention to surplus meaning allows her to expand our frames of reference regarding the purpose and effect of the late medieval allegorical arguments.' -- Nancy Ann Mcloughlin Sehepunkte June 2016 'Remarkably well documented study... Delogu's work offers a new perspective on female allegories of late Middle Ages...Her interdisciplinary approach deserves a wide readership among those interested in authors, theologians, and legal scholars that Delogu examines here.' -- Judy Kem Renaissance Quarterly vol 69:02:2016 'Daisy Delogu has written a fascinating, elegant, and original study of the gendering of metaphor and allegory in late medieval political writing in France...Most excellent study.' -- Kathy M. Krause H-France vol 16:75:2016

'In Allegorical Bodies, Daisy Delogu offers a fascinating discussion of the emergence of France as a feminized figure at the same time that women were excluded from royal rule.' -- Katherine Clark The Medieval Review November 2015

`In Allegorical Bodies, Daisy Delogu offers a fascinating discussion of the emergence of France as a feminized figure at the same time that women were excluded from royal rule.' -- Katherine Clark * The Medieval Review November 2015 * `Ambitious and beautifully crafted book... Delogu's careful reading and attention to surplus meaning allows her to expand our frames of reference regarding the purpose and effect of the late medieval allegorical arguments.' -- Nancy Ann Mcloughlin * Sehepunkte June 2016 * `Remarkably well documented study... Delogu's work offers a new perspective on female allegories of late Middle Ages...Her interdisciplinary approach deserves a wide readership among those interested in authors, theologians, and legal scholars that Delogu examines here.' -- Judy Kem * Renaissance Quarterly vol 69:02:2016 * `Daisy Delogu has written a fascinating, elegant, and original study of the gendering of metaphor and allegory in late medieval political writing in France...Most excellent study.' -- Kathy M. Krause * H-France vol 16:75:2016 * `Delogu's book is essential reading for anyone interested in late medieval allegory, political thought, and questions of gender.' -- Catherine M. Jones * French Review Vol 90:04:2017 *

Author Information

Daisy Delogu is an associate professor of French literature in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at the University of Chicago.

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