If youâre going to try and make your medieval fantasy world full of Gritty Realism, then by definition you have to show the positive parts of the time period youâre trying to emulate.
People are very happy to fill their books with bloodshed, homophobia, misogyny, and a nauseating, weirdly voyeuristic (and inaccurate) amount of sexual assault, but are hesitant to touch on the artistic and philosophical legacy of the Middle Ages. Where are the musicians? Where are the frequent church-sanctioned holidays? Where are the innovators and the humourists? Where is your Gritty Realism for the good things?
There are a couple of problems with this whole approach to writing.
1) If youâre apparently going for realism in the first place, why pick fantasy?
2) Given that this is fantasy, why lean on the same prejudices as in our world? You have invented your setting, itâs entirely in your power to change the social dynamics. If you do choose a world with the same social issues that we dealt with (and still do), to what end are you showing those? So your fantasy society is, say, xenophobicâŚwhy? If youâre making a point and challenging that view to some sort of conclusion, that makes sense. If itâs there, but not explored, why have it? This is a story, and the rules are different than life. Themes that carry that much weight canât just be laid on and left there. The issue doesnât have to be solved, but it canât be static.