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    • University of Missouri-Columbia
    • Graduate School - MU Theses and Dissertations (MU)
    • Theses and Dissertations (MU)
    • Dissertations (MU)
    • 2005 Dissertations (MU)
    • 2005 MU dissertations - Freely available online
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    The beautiful woman in medieval Iberia: rhetoric, cosmetics, and evolution

    Da Soller, Claudio, 1958-
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    Date
    2005
    Format
    Thesis
    Metadata
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    Abstract
    Literary portraits of the beautiful woman in medieval Iberia tend to emphasize several physical features, such as long, blond hair, or light-colored and hairless skin. This study examines the specific features of the beautiful woman in several major works and genres from medieval Iberia. It also traces the rhetorical sources of these portraits to the Classical and medieval Latin traditions, whose influence is evident in other early vernacular literatures of Europe. It then analyzes several medieval cosmetic treatises in Latin and in vernacular languages that attest to medieval women's beautifying practices, such as the use of hair-dyes, depilatories, and skin-whitening creams. The comparison of the literary and cosmetic evidence shows a canonical view of feminine beauty that encompasses different cultural areas in medieval Iberia. This view is also consistent with ancient as well as with twenty-first century conceptions of beauty. The findings suggest that the ideal of feminine beauty in medieval Iberia is not unique, but rather a manifestation of near-universal male preferences shaped by sexual selection in the course of human evolution.
    URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/10355/4175
    https://doi.org/10.32469/10355/4175
    Degree
    Ph. D.
    Thesis Department
    Romance Languages and Literature (MU)
    Collections
    • 2005 MU dissertations - Freely available online
    • Romance Languages and Literatures electronic theses and dissertations (MU)

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