Abstract
The Middle Ages is a period seldom covered in the current Ohio state standards nor for that matter is women’s history in general. This project explores a way to connect students to current scholarship on women during the medieval period in Britain and Europe more broadly to high school students using the fantasy series of J.R.R. Tolkien and George R.R. Martin. In addition to presenting a lesson plan to convey complex scholarly works on medieval history to a younger audience, this project includes a historiography detailing the evolution of medieval women’s studies, beginning as a way to undermine narratives of traditional gender roles and continuing highlight that medieval women had far more influences on the politics, culture, and economy of the Middle Ages, including women of all socioeconomic statuses. This evolution of the understanding of medieval women plays out over the decades between and during the time each of these authors write their stories. Tolkien and Martin create very different interpretations of the Middle Ages in their books with Tolkien emulating the literature of the period, Martin on the other hand sought to present a more grounded story (while still including dragons) that echoes many real historical events and people. Tolkien, while including very few named female characters in his stories, presents these women often as paragons of feminine virtues and serve mostly to inspire the male characters around them into action akin to those who appear in medieval literature and poems. Martin, turns to real examples of women who were able to exert political power through their husbands or sons in a multitude of ways. By using popular media that students may be more familiar with, they may have a firmer platform to understand the complex and changing narrative of medieval women’s history.
Advisor
Welsch, Christina
Department
History
Recommended Citation
McGlumphy, Jonah Z G, "From Fiction to Fact: Introducing High School Students to Medieval Women’s Studies using the Novels of J.R.R. Tolkien and George R.R. Martin" (2024). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 11006.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/11006
Disciplines
Education | European History | History | History of Gender | Medieval History
Keywords
Medieval History, Medieval Women's History, Lesson Plan, Popular Culture, Tolkien Studies, The Lord of the Rings, A Song of Ice and Fire, Education, Medieval Literature
Publication Date
2024
Degree Granted
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type
Senior Independent Study Thesis
© Copyright 2024 Jonah Z G McGlumphy
