Josian and the Heroism of Patience in Bevis of Hampton

Bibliographic Data

ID8862059
AuthorsRobin Waugh (Department of English and Film Studies, Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo, ON, Canada, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume99
Issue6
Pages609-623
Publication date2018-08-18
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnglish Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0013-838X • E-ISSN: 1744-4217
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0013838x.2018.1492231
OpenAlexW2896956000
LanguageEN
References cited30

This article argues that the solo adventures of Josian, the main female character of the Middle English Bevis of Hampton in the Auchinleck Manuscript, develop in the way that they do because they are meant to be directly parallel to the adventures of her lover and husband, Bevis. In comparison to Bevis’s deeds, which are mainly physical, Josian’s are best described as acts of patience. Her adventures then can fit into a tradition of female heroism that praises acts of patience in the way that traditional male heroes are praised for their deeds of daring on the battlefield. With abilities such as minstrelsy, disguise, and resourcefulness, Josian demonstrates a kind of heroism that is revealed, through its direct parallels with Bevis’s accomplishments, as an unexpectedly proto-feminist construct, with the two main characters in the poem presented as equals at important junctures

Adventure · Ancient history · Art · Art history · Battlefield · Character (mathematics · Literature · Parallels · Patience · Psychoanalysis · Stoicism · Theology · Joseph Conrad and Literature · Literature: history, themes, analysis · Mathematics · Medieval Literature and History · Psychology · History · Philosophy

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