Beyond Women and Power: Looking Backward and Moving Forward ed. by Kathy M. Krause

Reviews 281 remained essentially unchanged at the start of the twenty-first century. The numerous illustrations, including sketches, sculptures, and paintings depicting the white-tooth smile and diverse dental instruments, contribute to the rich interdisciplinary nature of the book while the extensive notes at the end provide ample material to further investigate more complex questions in the field. However, it is the colorful and amusing way Jones describes the exciting shifts and specificities of the smile which makes for such a captivating read.The conclusion looks towards the nineteenth century and succinctly summarizes larger trends, tooth maintenance and the open-mouth smile as a female attribute in particular, with the Postscript emphasizing the dominant role of the United States in commercialized dentistry from the nineteenth century onward. The Smile Revolution provides food for thought for those with a keen interest in the French Revolution beyond traditional historical analyses as well as for those who are curious about the evolution of scientific dentistry. The book will certainly bring a smile, if not a cheeky grin, to any reader’s lips and help to rethink the ubiquitous presence of this cultural product in modern life. University of Toronto Catherine Gaughan Krause, Kathy M., ed. Beyond Women and Power: Looking Backward and Moving Forward. Medieval Feminist Forum 51.2 (2015). Pp. 147. $20. As recently as the mid-1980s, there existed few serious works of medieval feminist historical and literary scholarship. Moreover, not many studies have been available to students and scholars interested in exploring the roles and responsibilities of medieval and early modern queens and noblewomen, women’s access to power, or the structure of the aristocratic family. The twelve articles in this special issue of Medieval Feminist Forum trace the considerable growth of interest in medieval feminist studies over the past thirty years and bring together a diverse variety of recent works on women and power, in the hopes of increasing readership and inspiring new questions and studies. Although not a study of specifically French history or literary works, all of the articles in the issue include analyses of French women or works (including Anglo-Norman women, as well as women rulers from Navarre), and the majority focus primarily on France. The authors examine the biases and prejudices of the historiographic record as they undertake new directions in a variety of disciplines. The issue offers clear and accessible reviews of past work on women and power, focusing on the increased interest in Eleanor of Aquitaine and Anglo-Norman queenship, on aristocratic families of the Chartrain, and on the life of Countess Ermengard of Brittany, all in order to challenge the established perspective that powerful medieval women were extraordinary or exceptional. In an attempt to examine old myths of female disempowerment, the authors also show an interest in the integration of literary and historical scholarship in the study of Old French literary representations of female lords. While some of the authors in the issue encourage scholars to challenge accepted boundaries and divisions, others work across traditional boundaries through specific studies of ruling women of the Holy Roman Empire (Penelope Nash), and of Jerusalem and Navarre (Elena Woodacre). Tracy Adams’s work on Isabeau de Bavière documents the reiterative nature of much secondary literature and argues for a return to primary sources; Kathleen Wellman’s study of two royal mothers: Catherine de Medici and Louise Savoy, underscores that for women, just as for men, there are many different routes to power. Christine Adams’s analysis of commentaries on two mistresses: Madame de Montespan and Madame Tallien, stresses the importance of re-examining the accepted historiography and warns against repeating outdated interpretations. Marie Kelleher and Theresa Earenfight, broaden the critical lens by re-thinking the fundamental definitions of women and power.Constance Berman’s concluding article on thirteenthcentury Cistercian nunneries draws together key concepts of this volume by bringing to light long-neglected documents to demonstrate the strong evidence for powerful feudal ‘Lady/Lords’ of northern France. The issue will be of significant interest to students and scholars of women and power in the fields of French or European history, literature, and gender studies. In its persuasive demonstration of the dangers of relying...

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