From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

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-	[[Image:Ruggiero Rescuing Angelica by Gustave Doré..jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Ruggiero]] rescuing [[Angelica]] in ''[[Orlando Furioso]],'' [[engraving]] by [[Gustave Doré]].]]	+	[[Image:Theatre from Ars Memoriae by Robert Fludd.jpg|thumb|center|200px|''[[Ars Memoriae]]'': The [[Theatre]] ([[1619]]) - [[Robert Fludd]]]]
-	The subject of the [[damsel in distress]] or [[persecuted]] [[maiden]] is a classic [[trope]] in [[world literature]], art and film. She is almost inevitably a young, [[nubile]] woman, who has been placed in a [[dire]] [[predicament]] by a [[villain]] or a [[monster]] and who requires a [[hero]] to dash to her rescue. She has became a [[stock character]] of fiction, particularly of [[melodrama]].	+
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-	The term "damsel", similar to French [[Mademoiselle]] - a completely archaic term, not used in contemporary English except for effect or in expressions such as this - testifies to its origin with the [[knight errant]] of Medieval songs and tales, who regarded the saving of such women an essential part of his raison d'etre.	+
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-	Some claim the popularity of the damsel in distress is perhaps in large measure because her predicaments sometimes contain hints of [[sadomasochistic]] [[sexual fantasy|fantasies]]. The helplessness of the damsel in distress, who can be portrayed as foolish and ineffectual to the point of [[naïvete]], along with her need for others to rescue her, has made the [[stereotype]] the target of [[feminism|feminist]] criticism.	+

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Revision as of 22:40, 25 January 2008