Beginning with The Song of Roland, we will explore the magic, sex and violence to be found in medieval literature, whilst also placing the texts within their complex historical and cultural contexts. These complexities inform presentations of chivalry and, throughout medieval literature, Christian values are often tested when brought into contact with pagan outsiders. In The Song of Roland, students are encouraged to reflect upon the significance of seemingly “good” and “bad” characters, as well as the nature (and limitations) of chivalric heroism.
This discussion will then extend to Gawain and the Green Knight, in which the magical Green Knight challenges Gawain, and by extension the values of the Arthurian court. In Gawain and the Green Knight, courtly love and sex play a role in defining (and threatening) chivalric virtue, and we will spend some time considering this apparent paradox. Gawain and the Green Knight also demonstrates a keen awareness of the natural world, through which Gawain travels as he makes his journey away from civilisation, and we will reflect upon this presentation of nature, and its theological implications. We will also discuss violence, identity and disguise within medieval romance, coupled with the relationships between, on the one hand, nobility (and bloodlines), and on the other, excellence and moral fortitude. The course concludes with a discussion of the significance of women in the texts, with a particular focus on the Lais of Marie de France, which were written in the late 12th Century in Anglo-Norman whilst Marie was living in England.
Texts will be read in modern English translation, although reference will occasionally be made to the original medieval English text. Students are not expected to have read either English or Anglo-Norman texts in their original form.
