The Romance of the Rose

The rose is a symbol for female sexuality and the female body in the work, embodying the narrator’s beloved. As symbols of passion and romance, roses are often associated with love in medieval literature.

The rose thus functions both as a “character” and as a symbol in the poem, illustrating the theme of The Complications of Sexuality and Desire. The rose functions as a stereotypical beloved in the courtly tradition, as it is both heavily idealized by the narrator and difficult to woo, as the narrator must overcome many social and emotional barriers that could prevent their union. The rose is a passive object: While other female figures in the text speak their minds and even help shape the action of the plot, the rose cannot speak and does not have any real agency in the narrative. The consummation between the narrator and the rose at the end of the text represents the successful fulfillment of love, in which sexuality and desire are at last united in union with the beloved.