Romances

Middle English Period: Literature

§  Feudalism carried with it a sense of form and manners

§  came to life most fully in the institution of knighthood (chivalry)

Genre §  Chivalry gave rise to one of the

literary forms of the Medieval Period known as the romance-

§  narrative which developed in 12th century France that is set in the world of knights, kings, and supernatural creatures.

§  “Romance” originally signified a work written in the French language, which evolved from a dialect of the Roman language.

A romance includes 3 stages:

1.  A dangerous quest

2.  A test of honor or courage (moral teachings)

3.  A return to the point from which the quest began

Romance stresses the chivalric ideals of:

1)  Courage 2)  Loyalty 3)  Honor 4)  Mercifulness to opponent (rules of

warfare Ex. one did not attack an unarmed knight)

5)  Exquisite and elaborate manners 6)  Adoration of a particular lady for

purposes of self-improvement

Courtly Love

§  the idea that by revering and acting in the name of a lady, the knight would become braver and better

§  The lover idolizes his beloved and subjects himself to her every whim

§  This love is often that of a bachelor knight for another man’s wife

Relationships toward Women

§ The great contribution of chivalry was an improved and even idealized attitude toward women

2 of the most well-known examples of the romance are:

1. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (verse)

2. Le Morte d’ Arthur (prose)

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight §  it is the greatest English

example of a romance §  Gawain is the model of the

romantic (chivalric) hero whose character is being tested

§  On trial are the virtues of the chivalric code

§  It is a serious romance whose purpose is to teach a moral lesson

§  Gawain does not have unlimited powers (like Beowulf). He is a human who, like all of us, is limited in his moral and physical strength.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

§  Written in 1370 §  Author is

unknown; referred to as “The Pearl Poet”

§  A romance in the Arthurian tradition

Bob-and-Wheel

n  bob- first short line of a group of rhyming lines that is 2-3 syllables long.

n  “Behold him with my eyes and have speech with him.”

He frowned; (bob) Took note of every knight

As he ramped and rode around; Then stopped to study who might Be the noble most renowned.

n  wheel- the 4 lines after the bob. n  Behold him with my eyes and have speech with him.”

He frowned: (bob) Took note of every knight (wheel) As he ramped and rode around;

Then stopped to study who might Be the noble most renowned.

n  Bob-and-wheel constitutes 5 lines rhyming in an ABABA pattern. No head. A He twisted his trunk about, B That gruesome body that bled; A He caused much dread and doubt B By the time his say was said. A