Texts
for the Final
Baudri
of Bourgeuil
Gerald
Bond and Aelfgiva
Arthurian
Texts
Geoffrey
of Monmouth
Culhwch
and Olwen
Layamon
Marie
de France
Thomas
of Britain
Selected
Lyrics of Troubadour Tradition
Chrétien
de Troyes, Lancelot
Sir
Gawain
Chaucer’s
Wife of Bath
Mallory
The
guiding questions here are: one, in what ways are the Arthurian stories
reflections upon the 1066 narrative?
two,
in what ways are the stories reflecting the changing interests of the times?
Marie and Chrétien show clear responses
to the courts of love and are perhaps in sympathy with that, but Sir Gawain and
Chaucer show two very different critical distancing from that world, and
Mallory’s tragic vision at the end of the medieval world in the midst of the
Wars of the Roses has yet another critical stance.
Remember
the 80’s
(with
a little fudging of the dates)
480
– “Arthur against the Saxons” (Mount Badan)
538
– Gildas De Excidio Britannae
828
– Nennius – Historia Brittonum
1080
– Bayeux Tapestry
1138
– Geoffrey of Monmouth
1180
– French Romances – Chrétien, Marie
1280
– Winchester Round Table
1380
– Sir Gawain, Chaucer
1480
- Malory
In
Culhwch and Owen
Recall
some of the strange magical realism moments in the tale
The
emphasis on swine and haircutting
Note
also the spects of love, or armor, the depiction of Owen
The
trials to win Owen done by Arthur et al, not Culhwch
Geoffrey
Notes
the parallels to the 1066 narrative
Don’t
forget the love passage as the ladies leaned out of towers
Description
of Arthur’s battles
His
internationalism
His
coronation ceremony
Dream
Problems
back at home
From
Epic to Romance
Some
of the general points from Southern about the changes in religion that perhaps
motivated to change in sensibility from epic to romance; also the changing
political climate – from wars to bloodlines.
Then
the changes in the genres from epic to romance that in some ways are consistent
with this change in cultural climate.
Review
the competing and conflicted views of “courtly love” or fin’amor, even in the “textbook”
of this material Andreas Capellanus.
The
varying images of women in this mix: Eva/Ave – woman as temptress and siren and
cause of all our woe and woman as savior.
How does the 12th century love tradition extend and critique
this tradition or condition.
Remember
Howard Bloch’s argument that it is out of the misogyny that the idealism of
Western romantic love is born?
Also
recall Potkay’s summary of scholarship which view the courtly love poem as
basically narcissitic?
Also:
feudalism: Marc Bloch, first and second feudal ages
Sydney
Painter: feudal chivalry, religious chivalry, amatory chivalry
Knightly
virtues of feudal knight
1.
prowess;
2, honor; 3. loyalty; 4; largesse; 5, religiosity
Is
Lancelot supporting or critiquing the courtly love tradition?
In
what ways is this story about gaining identity?
In
some ways Lancelot and SGGK are at opposite conditions in the question for
perfection.
Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight:
Dualities
in the poem: inner and outer plot; two women; two games; two endings
The
motto and the ending – what to make of it.
The
role of courtly love – for it or against it
What
do we make of the allegory of temptation in the poem?
Review
Romance versus Fabliau
In
what ways is the Wife of Bath’s tale verging upon the fabliau? In what ways is the Wife of Bath’s tale
anti-romantic and in what ways is it romantic?
In
what ways can Mallory’s version of the end of the myth be read as a reflection
on the condition of his world? How is
it gloomier and meaner than the earlier versions? In what ways is it more elevated in its tragic vision?