Evolution of “Romance”

1. Evolution of “Romance” Middle English, from Old French romans, romance, work written in French, from Vulgar Latin *rōmānicē (scrībere), (to write) in the vernacular

2. Bonnie Wheeler’s categories • Mythic/archetypal • Moral anxieties & ambiguities—morals of chivalry • Tragic (no one is perfect) • Comic (perceptions of loss and recovery, of growth and recognition)

3. The roman • Originally the term signified a work in French vernacular as opposed to Latin • Probably came from tales of the Romans and Greeks—school exercises? • Originally tales of heroes of national significance • Distinguished from epic by emphasis on virtues and psychology rather than on heroic exploits

4. Jean Bodel (12th c)’s classifications of the roman courtois • Matières of Rome the Great (usually Alexander, Aeneas, etc.) • Matières of France (usually Charlemagne and his knights) • Matières of Britain (usually Arthur and his knights)

5. Genre characteristics • Loosely follow quest pattern (often episodic) • Hero often manifests above-average abilities • Stories may be true or ‘fables’—created to illustrate a point • Supernatural elements seem to be naturalized • Love as only motive is a later addition

6. A ROMAN IS A STORY. AND A STORY MAY NOT BE TRUE. SO IF A ROMAN ISN’T True…

7. …why isn’t it a bad thing? • Medieval distinction between “matter” and “meaning” (in Chrétien’s terms, between “matière” and “sen”) is crucial • The matter of a roman doesn’t need to be true if it illustrates an appropriately moral meaning • Based on kind of dialectic starting to become popular in university theology debates

8. Why does the genre take off between 1100-1300? • the refinement and expansion of court life in a period of relative peace • the rise of the vernacular as a literary language • the emergence of a class of educated clerics, often employed by aristocrats • the presence of noblewomen as well as knights among the court audience, and • the nobility's desire to define their social superiority

9. Major threads of Arthurian Romance • Arthur and Merlin • Lancelot • Lancelot and Guinevere • Tristram and Isolde • The Holy Grail • Gawain • Other Knights of the Round Table

10. Earliest Arthurian Romances • Beroul, Tristan, mid twelfth century • Thomas of Britain, Tristran, c. 1155 (incomplete but survives in an extended form in Gottfried von Strassburg’s Tristan, c. 1210) • Welsh Mabinogion (c. 1060-1200)

11. Again, genealogy counts

12. Chrétien de Troyes • Career from mid twelfth century (1160s? to early 1190s • Associated with the courts of Marie de Champagne and Phillip of Flanders • Possibly (by dialect) from northeastern France • Highly educated—university background • Some theories make him a Jewish conversus but probably not

13. Works • Erec et Enide (c. 1160s or early 1170s) • Cligès (c. 1175) • Le Chevalier de la charrette(c. 1179), completed by Godefroi de Leigni • Yvain (c. 1184) • Perceval ou Le Conte du Graal (unfinished, begun by 1190) with multiple continuations

14. In the case of “The Knight of the Cart” • Countess Marie gives Chrétien the matter and the sen; he is then tasked to illustrate it in such a way that will entertain, instruct, and move the audience • His matière is “a story in which a lover fails—even briefly—to keep a vow to the beloved”, and the sen asks “What lessons can we learn about keeping promises from this story?”

15. Chrétien focuses on competing instincts • The lover has made a vow always to serve his lady (integrity, loyalty, constancy) • He hesitates (for two steps) because he fears losing his worldly reputation (worship, renown, fame) • He must atone for his failure to keep his vow by serving ladies and demonstrating his worthiness without breaking promises made to his lady

16. He must undertake a quest to rescue her and re-prove his worthiness • Series of increasingly difficult challenges, both physically and intellectually/spiritually/ emotionally • Lover often stops to articulate his thinking process—instructional for audience • By rescuing maidens, freeing prisoners, etc., he not only demonstrates his prowess and worth but also makes community better—and other knights wish to emulate his deeds (ripple effect)