Middle English Romances

 Middle English Romances

Dr. Mahuya Bhaumik

Source: Google Images

📌THE SHIFT:

• The shift from Old English to Medieval Romances is marked by remarkable transformation in temperament.

Old English was dominated by heroic poetry that was realistic.

Medieval Romances are: 

• escapist
• characters fight either on the basis of principle or as a ritual, primary emphasis was on Hero's character.
• 'romance' - love elements (eg) Floris & Blancheflour - French romantic story, Lancelot & Guinevere - adulterous affair of King Arthur's Knight & Arthur's queen ; no love element (eg) Alexander, Richard the Lion-Hearted
• Element of Love & Adventure- incidental as in Bevis of Hampton, source of motivation in Guy of Warwick, dominated by adventurous element (eg) Erec, Yvain 

Bhaumik clearly details the shift with the help of appropriate examples.

📌CHATACTERISTIC FEATURES OF ROMANCES:

In the essay, Bhaumik turns the readers attention towards the characteristics of the romances. Touching on the elements of plot, structure & technique, character depiction, audience and language, namely.

• Plot: Chivalrous Knight centric plots
• Narrative style: imaginary narratives
• Medium: The medium was prose or verse.
• Characters: They were types and conform to definite pattern. Knights struggling to prove their supremacy against each other.
• Audience: Aristocratic upper class were the main consumers of these works and hence they catered to them.
• Language- influence of French: French had a strong hold on the English lands and naturally the French language dominated the literary arena until the 13th century. Although the French lost their strong hold on the English lands and was ousted as the courtly language of England, but still the French continued to influence the English romances. The 14th centuery English romances were translations or adaptations of the French.

📌CATEGORIES OF MEDIEVAL ROMANCES:

• Jean Bodel, a twelfth century French medieval poet in his Chanson des Saisnes, divided medieval romances into three categories based on the subject matter of the romance.
• The division included Matter of France, Matter of Britain and Matter of Rome. A fourth 'Matter of England' has been added by Bhaumik in the essay.