There are many medieval ballads that contain male-female relationships. However, the ballads "Edward", "Bonny Barbara Allen", and "Mattie Groves" stand out because they all contain atypical male-female relationships. The similarities the three ballads share in their male-female relationships are: 1) there is always a conflict between the male and the female and 2) none of these relationships are representative of the ideal male-female relationship or marriage.

Although the male-female relationship in the ballad "Edward" revolves around a mother and a son, their relationship is just as convoluted as the ones found in the other ballads. Edward and his mother have a tense and stormy relationship, which is highlighted through their conversations and interactions with each other. Edward's tenseness towards his mother is shown through his replies to his mother's question "why dois your brand sae drap wi bluid?" Instead of telling her the truth, Edward is at first hesitant and lies to his mother by saying the blood on his sword is from hawk, and then says it is actually from his horse. Eventually Edward cracks due to his feelings of guilt and admits to his mother

none except the sources from where these ballads were found

that he actually killed his father (line 21). Expecting to find at least some sympathy and advice from his mother, since it was the mother who gave Edward the idea of killing his father, Edward, instead, is bombarded by a series of questions from his mother. These questions make Edward angry, especially since one of them

Allan do not see eye to eye, their relationship is the closest among those of the three ballads to be representative of at least a "normal" male-female relationship, even if not of an ideal one. Although Barbara Allan does not proclaim her love for Sir Graeme as Sir Graeme did for her, Sir Graeme still tells his friends to "be kind to Barbara Allan" (line 24). Even though Sir Graeme slighted Barbara Allan in the past, Barbara Allan tells her mother to fix her coffin since "my love died for me to-day, I'll die for him to-morrow" (lines 35-36). These actions show that both of them did respect, and probably love each other, even if both of them, especially Barbara Allan, were reluctant in showing each other how they felt about one another.

The ballad "Bonny Barbara Allan" presents a male-female relationship that does not work primarily because of the stubbornness and demands of the parties involved. The relationship between Sir John Graeme and Barbara Allan can be characterized as stubborn since both of them a

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Approximate Word count = 948
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)