The Concept of Shame in Late-Medieval English Literature Mary C. Flannery* Queen Mary University of London Abstract As well as describing dishonor itself, the Middle English word ‘shame’ can refer either to the emotion resulting from an awareness of dishonor or disgrace, or to the anticipation of dishonor, the potential for disgrace to be experienced. Late-medieval English literature reveals the interrelation between the personal experience of shame and the way it is produced in relation to others, typi- cally through such kinds of exposure as showing and telling. This essay draws attention to the complex ways in which shame is imagined in late-medieval English literature. It begins by consid- ering the two major focal points of late-medieval shame studies so far: chivalric literature and Christian shame. After surveying the approaches that have been taken to date, it suggests new themes that deserve critical attention in these areas. The remainder of this essay points to other lit- erary contexts in which we might investigate shame more closely. While chivalric and devotional texts are significant areas in which shame was imagined, medical, conduct, and advisory texts also engage with the concept of shame in important ways. A burning blush, a wave of self-loathing, the paralyzing fear of doing the wrong thing – all of these are recognizable symptoms of shame. Shame (aid  os) was such a pervasive concept in ancient Greece that the mid-20th-century classicist E. R. Dodds characterized the Homeric age as a ‘shame culture’, in contrast with what he described as the ‘guilt culture’ of Christianity (a distinction that has since become obsolete). But Christianity was also preoccupied with shame (pudor, verecundia) as the emotional byproduct of the Fall; it was only after Adam and Eve sinned that they experienced shame at their nakedness. In Book IV of The City of God Against the Pagans, Augustine argues that this sin resulted in fleshly disobedience, ‘a certain shameless novelty, and thereafter nudity was indecent. It drew their attention and made them embarrassed’ (XIV.XVII). 1 Postlapsarian shame was frequently treated in the writings of the Church Fathers and medieval theologians: Augustine and Thomas Aquinas struggled to define and to theorize shame, while Jerome and Tertullian expounded shame’s role in the preservation of sacred virginity. Anglo-Saxon England was also well acquainted with the concept of shame; indeed, the modern English word ‘shame’ originates in Old English forms (scamu, sceamu, scomu, etc.) that appear as early as the eighth century (Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, s.v. sceamu; OED, s.v. shame). The Middle English word ‘shame’ retains the definitions of its Old English prede- cessors: as well as describing dishonor itself, it can refer either to the emotion resulting from an awareness of dishonor or disgrace, or to the anticipation of dishonor, the potential for disgrace to be experienced (Middle English Dictionary, s. v. shame). But in the centuries following the Norman Conquest, the concept of shame in England acquired new associations with, for example, the ideals and expectations of chivalry and the practice of confession. Literature Compass 9/2 (2012): 166–182, 10.1111/j.1741-4113.2011.00868.x ª 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd