William Chaucer 's ' Chretien De Troyes '

Marcus Bull is a distinguished professor for medieval and early modern studies. He earned is Bachelor of Arts at London University in 1987 followed by and his PhD in 1991. His area of educational concentration is medieval history. He currently is a professor at the University of North Carolina in the History Department. Dr. Marcus Bull has other notable publications including “Tudorism: Historical Imagination and the Appropriation of the Sixthteenth Century”, “Thinking Medieval: An Introduction to the Study” and “France in the Central Middle Ages 900-1200.” The majority of his intended audiences appear to be college students, and peers in the field of medieval history. In the approach to his works, the literature is filled with easy transitions and factual based research. Dr. Marcus Bull is able to bring the information to life in an easily comprehensible way. He provides detailed information that is backed by specific examples in history and detailed oriented analysis that correlates with his

Two conflicting disciplines are prevalent throughout Arthurian Legend; that of chivalry and that of courtly love. The ideal of each clash throughout the medieval tales, and it is impossible to interfuse the two models for society. Chivalry is a masculine code, an aggressive discipline, whereas courtly love is based upon women - their needs, wants, and desires. The consistent problem if Lancelot and Guinevere’s adulterous relationship in different tellings of the affair relates back to the differences presented in chivalric code and courtly love ideals.

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer can be understood as a text that criticizes glossing and those who gloss. In this case, glossing a text is the comments, explanations, and interpretations one infers from reading the piece of literature and the understanding that can be taken away from it; this is different for every individual who reads the written word. I believe Chaucer wrote some of these tales as a critique of certain figures in his society. The question one should ask when reading, or being read to, is what is the meaning behind the text and where does the meaning lie. When, directly, reading a text one can determine the meaning of the author through one’s own interpretation. When one is being read to, they are being given the information in a biased form; this prevents one from being able to interpret the text for oneself and leads to the audience being glossed, as well as the text, and Chaucer criticizes the crowd’s contentedness to be glossed at and to.

In Lanval, one of Marie De France’s twelve Lais, she demonstrates a narrative poem about love and lust set in medieval times. Her short, romantic tale narrates a knight’s love affair with a maiden that is so beyond beautiful that she surpasses all earthly splendors. Lanval, a knight who sat at King Arthur’s Round Table, is the center of Marie’s story and is envied by all the other men and hated for his gallantry, kindness, attraction and courage. The poem’s location is based in the feudal town of Carlisle.

The Breton lai “Lanval”, written by Marie de France in the twelfth century, is a short romantic poem focused on a foreign knight, Lanval, and his life after meeting a faerie lover. The poem is set in the time of King Arthur, at a place named Carduel—a city in the along the borders of Arthur’s kingdom, Logres. In “Lanval” failure is a negative situation brought upon oneself by their inability to maintain their virtue, thus success in the Middle Ages was heavily influenced by loyalty and integrity.

In modern society, Martha Stewart and Miss Manners are authorities in the social amenities of community gatherings, and they promote their ideas in television programs and books. But in the Middle Ages, elegant behavior is illustrated in the Middle English poem, “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” in a detailed account of a holiday celebration at King Arthur’s castle. In this text, the idea of courtesy is shown as the foremost attribute of a knight, and King Arthur is introduced as the “most courteous of all” (26) rulers. In a mealtime setting, the lives and customs of “[t]he most noble knights known under Christ” (51) are displayed, and courteous behavior is established as the hallmark

Stories of Camelot’s mighty warriors and the resulting Arthurian legends continue to be timeless as they are still told, centuries later. Many other tales have been lost in the passing of time, but these remain because they contain archetypes that are applicable to any and all people throughout the ages. They show their audience what it is like to struggle with temptation, love, and morals; not at all unlike the troubles people encounter today. But as time goes on, the perspective that these stories are seen from drastically changes. Protagonists become villains, motives are redefined, and love waxes cold.

Rape is an unmistakable reoccurring event in almost all Arthuriana. It is a popular incident in medieval literature and, seemingly, a part of the way of life. No matter who the book was written by, the concept of rape was always included. The literary works that will be analyzed are, Thomas Malory’s ‘La Morte D’Arthur’ and Terence Hanbury’s ‘The Once and Future King’. The focal point of this paper is to give insight on why the idea of sexual violence was so popular to write about during medieval times, especially in the Arthurian legend.

In medieval texts, authors focus on a knight’s code of chivalry and the preservation of honor. Malory, a medieval writer, incorporates Lancelot’s numerous relationships in his novel to present the problems of upholding the knightly codes. He brings to attention the expectations – loyalty, dignity, and honesty – of a knight in medieval society. Malory reveals the morality and the price for engaging in sinful events, a message to show society that for every action there is a consequence. In contrast, Victorian literature focuses on the appreciation of one’s past as well as courtly love. Bridges, a Victorian poet, illustrates the love triangle between King Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot. In “Lancelot’s Vigil,” Bridges exposes Lancelot’s sorrowful emotions and utilizes a sad tone to sympathize with him. After Guinevere’s death, Lancelot is seen reminiscing the past, evoking memories of their love. He recalls Guinevere’s beauty, remembering the warmth of her touch and the elegance of her features. Meanwhile, Guinevere abandons Lancelot by returning to King Arthur’s side in the afterlife. Lancelot must undergo the torture of having his lover buried next to another man. Lancelot’s legend changes, initially portraying his corrupt nature to uncovering his pitiable

In directing Lancelot du Lac in 1974, Bresson revisits the original Arthurian legend, focusing on the erosion of chivalric ideals, depriving the story of Lancelot and Guinevere of the traditional legendary and magical atmosphere to show a degraded and solitary court in which anarchy takes over after the disastrous quest of the Holy Grail. Bresson makes the characters behave like contemporary ones: the anachronism inspires narrative and formal structure.

The stories of Lancelot (The Knight of the Cart) and Perceval (The Story of the Grail) within Chrétien de Troyes’ Arthurian Romances depict a world of Medieval Romance that is somewhat different from one that was depicted in earlier epics. These romances are more focused on the battle between love and honor rather than on war and valor, which were depicted in earlier epics of de Troyes’ time. The tale of Lancelot follows a star-struck knight who undergoes an inner conflict between both the lover and hero inside him. His intense commitment to rescuing the queen causes him to make rash decisions which inevitably restrain him from controlling his own fate. Perceval’s story exhibits a different purpose for love in a knight’s life. Unlike Lancelot, he accepts love only when he believes it can further advance him in becoming the perfect knight. The two heroes’ actions showcase an inner conflict between maintaining their honor as knights and the love for another. Through these two tales, Chrétien de Troyes shows that that idealistic love and conscious chivalry cannot necessarily successfully coexist, yet it is the unachievable idealistic view that these two ideals do coexist.

When you hear the term “Medieval,” you most likely think of Arthurian imagery, and tales. One aspect of these tales, was the abundance of chivalry. Chivalry is described by Maurice Keen in the essay on the matter as “Nothing more than polite veneer.” (Keen). However, looking at Arthurian tales, chivalry was much more to them.

Over the past month, we read the Story of the Grail by Chretien de Troyes. This poem details the progression of the knight Perceval. In the beginning, Perceval is not called by his name, instead he is referred to as “the youth”. This is an important detail to stress, because the poem is a coming of age story. As the poem progresses, the reader is able to see definitive changes in Perceval’s character. For example, in the beginning of the poem Perceval uses the limited knowledge that was bestowed upon him by his mother in order to complete his “knightly” duties. To make it worse, Perceval feels the need to tell everyone he meets that his mother is the one that taught him everything he knows. Eventually, Perceval outgrows this behavior and becomes a suitable knight. Throughout the poem, Perceval goes through many trials and tribulations, but for the purpose of this essay I will unravel the allegorical meaning of Perceval’s fight with the Red Knight using all four levels of interpretation.

Geoffrey Chaucer was a poet, a writer, and of course a diplomat. Geoffrey Chaucer was born in the early hours of 1340s to John Chaucer, a vintner and assistant to the king's butler. As a boy, he was a leaf to the Countess of Ulster. (Lombardi) Chaucer was the most famous for writing his unfinished Canterbury tales. (Geoffrey Chaucer) He was born in London, only problem is, the exact date and place are unknown. From his writings Chaucer emerges as poet of love, both worldly and heavenly. No information exists about his early education, although without a doubt he would have been as good in French as in the Middle English of his time. (Bio.True Story) Chaucer pops up in the record books in 1357 he was working for the queen.

When one thinks of the word medieval, there appear to be almost an instantaneous reaction. Some may see the period associated with the gothic architecture, Crusades, brutalism, death, the Black Plague, illiteracy, or the Dark Ages. Others may interpret the period as one full of valiant knights, princesses waiting to be saved, jousting, castles, and noble kings and queens. From video games such as The Legend of Zelda and the popular HBO television series A Game of Thrones, to accounts of medieval torture or treatment in the newspapers, the Middle Ages seems to be more relevant than ever. However, it can be argued that much about what we know about the real Middle Ages was constructed in the nineteenth century due to a comparative lack of records and the imaginative portrayal of the period by the Victorians. Due to the tumultuous period that was the Industrial Revolution, many social critics and artists turned back to the Middle Ages in order to reflect their anxieties of the present and the hopes and expectations of the future. I began to note that the medievalist movement was built upon medieval studies through a desire to create, rather than retrieve the past, which in turn lead to academic debates about authenticity and furthered the tension between the two fields leading to an almost insurmountable break. Those in medieval studies look towards medievalism as a misguided attempt to contemplate history which in turn changed the public’s understanding towards the era away