Another Woman’s Words: Ferb and Speech-Act Theory
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33353/scf.157434Abstract
It remains a common assumption that medieval Irish authors held an attitude towards their female characters consisting of either suppression into passive non-characters, or mistrust and even violent hatred towards active behaviour. Certain scholars have sought to bring more nuance to our understanding of the portrayal of women in medieval Irish literature, notably Joanne Findon in A Woman’s Words: Emer and Female Speech in the Ulster Cycle. In spite of this, the generalising view of medieval authorial misogyny continues to prevail, in scholarship and public perception. This image can only be challenged through close analysis of texts and the investigation of further counter-examples. This paper offers the extraordinary range of female characters in the Ulster Cycle tale Tochmarc Ferbe (‘The Wooing of Ferb’), and especially the role of its protagonist Ferb, as evidence that, not only does this negative paradigm not always apply, but it may in fact need rewriting completely. The sheer quantity of female speech in Tochmarc Ferbe makes this tale particularly suited to such an undertaking, and invites the use of speech-act theory to shed light on the various types of illocutionary act which are being performed by female speakers. Ferb, in her primary role as lamenter, is a character who would traditionally be viewed as passive, yet speech-act theory enables us to re-evaluate the role that her speech performs in this tale, and ultimately reach a new and positive interpretation of her characterisation as an active participant in the narrative.
