Author ORCID Identifier
Semester
Fall
Date of Graduation
2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Type
PhD
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
History
Committee Chair
Kate Staples
Committee Member
Joshua Arthurs
Committee Member
Matthew Vester
Committee Member
Kelly Watson
Committee Member
Jessica Wilkerson
Abstract
At a time of vast social and cultural shifts, people living in western Europe from the late twelfth to the late fifteenth centuries developed and employed methods to “read” the faces of others. This practice promoted the interpretation of inner qualities from external appearances, often used to communicate adherence to or deviation from boundaries of gendered behaviors. My project explores medieval understandings concerning this particular feature of the human body, analyzing discourses concerning the face as a site of symbolism for inner character. While scholars have studied understandings of the self and the “Other” during this period, the role of the face as a sign system integral to these understandings remains a neglected area of exploration. Most work on this topic has focused on the readability of men’s faces, but I argue women’s faces served as cultural canvases for socially-constructed ideas of femininity, highlighting medieval attempts at communicating women’s natures through rhetoric concerning their facial appearances. Incorporating a more diverse source base than those typically utilized for this type of study reveals the integral role that women’s faces played in medieval semiotic codes. The idea of the face as a mirror of inner qualities enjoyed widespread popularity across genres, reflected in the physiognomical treatises, literary depictions, conduct literature, and saints’ lives considered in this dissertation. This range of sources allows for a thick description of cultural understandings of women’s faces and a reconstruction of medieval attempts at using this particular site to reinforce gendered boundaries of behavior.
Recommended Citation
Bonar Hull, Lacey N., "It's Written All Over Your Face: A Cultural and Gender History of the Face in the Middle Ages, 1170-1500" (2024). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 12704.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/12704
Included in
Cultural History Commons, European History Commons, History of Gender Commons, Medieval History Commons, Women's History Commons
