Loathly lady
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The loathly lady is a common literary device used in medieval literature, most famously in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Wife of Bath's Tale. The motif was prominent in Celtic mythology, where the lady often represented the sovereignty of the land.
[edit] Characteristics
The loathly lady is a hideous woman who demands that a man kiss or marry her in her hideous form. This action reveals that her shape is a transformation that has been broken.
The loathly lady can be found in The Adventures of the Sons of Eochaid Mugmedon, in which Niall of the Nine Hostages proves himself the rightful High King of Ireland by embracing her; the motif can also be found in stories of the earlier high kings Lugaid Laigde and Conn of the Hundred Battles. In her capacity as a quest-bringer, the loathly lady can be found in the literature of the Holy Grail, including Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail, Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, and the Welsh Romance Peredur, son of Efrawg associated with the Mabinogion.
The theme became a staple of Arthurian literature, the best known treatment is in the Wife of Bath's Tale, in which a knight, told that he can chose whether his bride is to be ugly at night and beautiful during the day, or vice versa, frees the lady from the form entirely by allowing her to choose for herself. A variation on this story is attached to Sir Gawain in the related romances The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle and The Marriage of Sir Gawain.
The loathly lady is a character whose special knowledge and social position combine with her physical undesirability to mark her a marginal. The loathly lady is a sort of outcast-in part simply because she is female-but more than her gender, her physical constitution and lack of societal connectedness illustrate the multiple, systematic oppressions inherent in medieval culture. The loathly lady knows a secret which is crucial to the central courtly culture; in every case she possesses knowledge which the patriarchal society (or at least one of its members) needs in order to survive and thrive. The loathly lady also embodies traces of the courtly tradition as it illustrates the transforming power of love.
