An Allegorical Dream

What happens when you question your conservative catholic upbringing in a male gaze society? This project is the process of deconstructing beliefs and re-imagining love, lust, pleasure, and intimacy through the lens of classical literature; Le Roman de la Rose, a medieval French allegorical poem which totes the virtues of courtly love from the male perspective. Where virtues such as chastity are central to earn the love of one’s affection. Values which patriarchal institutions such as the church ingrained in our psyche as women. The text narrates de story of a young man referred as the Lover and his quest to conquer the Rose, where the Rose is the symbolic representation of the young woman. Inspired by Christine Pizan in the 15th century who criticized the text and accused it of being misogynistic, this project explores what happens when these virtues are questioned, gendered roles are toyed with, and the “Rose” can explore freely her own definition of love. The flower, woman, is searching for herself, instead of courtly love virtues and prohibition, pleasure is central in this exploration. This is an allegorical story, a dream, that travels from metaphor to life. As in the Roma