Name the category of Middle English ‘romance and Discuss them.
The very word 'romance' conjures up to our mind visions of battlemented castle ,of fair lady, is pinning in the enchanter castle and waiting for their brave Nights to come to rescue them, of Nights riding forth in search of gloriously impossible adventures of the late 20th century trouvere Jean Bodel in an Often quoted Couplet divided the subject matter of mediaeval romance into three categories ,"The matter of France the matter of Britain and the matter of Rome the Great. There is however another important category of romance of which Bodel said nothing .On the and analogy of bodel's classification it has been called the matter of England.
"The Romance in verse in so far as it tends to be a narrative of Heroic adventure has something in common with the Epic but it has less unity of action and the characters and not so well defined .All the occasional romances have a simple and a skill fully managed plot many a little more than a loose succession of incidence strong on a biographical thread" A.C.Baugh
The Matter of Rome
The matter of Rome deals with classical stories-- the Mighty exploits of Alexander the Great, the Trojan War, the seige of thebes, the siege of Troy, the adventure of Aeneas etc.It represents the ancient classical culture as seen through medievalised eye. "This is not the world of Homer or of Pericles or Virgil but I curiously medievalised ancient world derived from sources and traditions are removed from what we would today consider the mainstream of classical culture" Of the Matter of Rome King Alisaunder, The destruction of Troy, or of more than average merit. The Matter of Rome deals with largely the tales from Greek and Roman sources (from Homer, Virgil, Ovid etc.)
The Matter of France
The matter of France deals mainly with heroic deeds of Charlemagne and his Knights ,and the chief of these Carlovingian cycles is the chanson De Roland which tells the story of roland's courageous fight against hopeless odds, ending with the hero's death.The struggles depicted in them between the feudal novels and their overload are based on fact . Other romances of this group are Rauf Coilyear, Sir Ferumbras, The Sowdone of Babylon, The siege of Milan, Ronald and Otincls etc.
The Matter of Britain
The most interesting of the romances are those which deal with the exploits of a Celtic chieftain of the 6th century and his Knights of the round table There is only a short story of 642 lines named Arthur which treats the whole life of Arthur. other romances deal with certain aspects of others career or with the adventures of individual Knights of the round table with themes such as the history of the Holy Grail.
Some evolution of Arthurian cycles are:
William of Monmouth is the first author who makes Arthur as the Romantic Arthur, the incarnate spirit of chivalry. Here Arthur is described as a mighty king protected by supernatural power.
Wace in his ‘Roman de Brut’ records the adventures and achievements of the Knights of the Round Table. He speaks of Arthur as still a living force –‘the Hope of Britain’.
Layman in his ‘Brut’ presents the story of the Round Table and narrates the passing way of the mighty monarch.
‘Arthur and Merlin’ Sir Gawain and Green knight’ ‘Ywain and Gawain’ Sir Orfeo, Sir Tristrem, Sir Launfal, Sir Libeas, Sir Thopas Sir Launcelot deserve mention.
The Matter of England
Some of the most popular of the Matter of England subjects dealt with in English romance seem to derived from the tradition as associated with the Viking raids on England. It is peculiarly English .its materials are drawn from English history and it deals with English Heroes whose stories floated from mouth to mouth for a long time and were eventually turned into French verse narratives by the French romancers. Remarkable romances of this group are – king Horn, Havelock the Dane, Guy of Warwickand Bevis of Hampton.
Havelock the Dane
* It is based on Scandinavian legend. It narrates the story of Havelock a young Danish Prince. He is kept out of his royal right by his wicked guardian. His guardian plots to murder him by he escapes by an old fisherman Griem. He escapes to England where he serves at the kitchen of Goldborough the Princess of England who is also menaced by her wicket uncle. Finally Havelock wins back the two kingdoms and puts both the cruel guardians to death.
King Horn:
* It is based on the Scandinavian legend. The hero, king Horn, was captured in his childhood by the Sasacens. He then is set adrift in a sail less am oars less boat. He landed safety on Westerness. It course of time a love relationship starts with a princess named Rymenhild. King discovers their secret and Horn is chased-after obtaining a promise from Rymenhild to wait seven years for him. After seven years Horn returns in the guise of a poor pilgrim and finally gets married with her.
In addition to the romances of these four matters there are a number of miscellaneous romances dealing with independent subjects such as Floris and Blancheflour and sir orfeo. there are other middle English romances on a great variety of things some dealing with patients and constancy of an abused woman some dealing with stock Courtly situation some combining history and folklore in one way of another.
The romances have shortcomings. They are intolerably long, digression discursiveness which have no effect on imagination. But with all its shortcomings the romances have a Peculiar interest from the modern standpoint in that it marks the beginning English fiction. Even Richardson’s novel of analysis had its counterpart in them. ************************
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