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DIRECT DISCOURSE AND FEMALE ARCHETYPES IN CHRETIEN DE TROYES'S ROMANCES

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Date Issued:
2019
Abstract/Description:
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the role of the female messenger archetype in Chretien de Troyes's romances within the context of the rising courtly literature written in France throughout the early twelfth century. The romances by Chretien that will serve as cases in point for this thesis are Erec et Enide, Lancelot, and Yvain. I analyze the various courtly ladies of the lower nobility to whom Chretien attributes direct discourse and study how their verbal influence over the plot and the extent to which they are directly involved in the action of that plot correlate to one another. This, as a counterpoint to the queen's traditional role as seemingly powerful, but ultimately passive object in the chivalric paradigm, demonstrates how Chretien uses the female messenger archetype within his romances. While this study focuses on examining the existence of the female messenger archetype, it also acknowledges the variation amongst the different female characters, even as they fit into the role of the female messenger archetype within Chretien's individual works. Lastly, the ambiguity of enide's character, as the oldest example of the female messenger archetype, in comparison with the examples from Chretien's later works, suggests a possible development in Chretien's use of the female messenger archetypes, specifically a crystallization of the literary function of both the queen and the female messenger figures in his corpus.
Title: DIRECT DISCOURSE AND FEMALE ARCHETYPES IN CHRETIEN DE TROYES'S ROMANCES.
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Name(s): Crotty, Raquelle A, Author
Smith, Geri, Committee Chair
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2019
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this thesis is to examine the role of the female messenger archetype in Chretien de Troyes's romances within the context of the rising courtly literature written in France throughout the early twelfth century. The romances by Chretien that will serve as cases in point for this thesis are Erec et Enide, Lancelot, and Yvain. I analyze the various courtly ladies of the lower nobility to whom Chretien attributes direct discourse and study how their verbal influence over the plot and the extent to which they are directly involved in the action of that plot correlate to one another. This, as a counterpoint to the queen's traditional role as seemingly powerful, but ultimately passive object in the chivalric paradigm, demonstrates how Chretien uses the female messenger archetype within his romances. While this study focuses on examining the existence of the female messenger archetype, it also acknowledges the variation amongst the different female characters, even as they fit into the role of the female messenger archetype within Chretien's individual works. Lastly, the ambiguity of enide's character, as the oldest example of the female messenger archetype, in comparison with the examples from Chretien's later works, suggests a possible development in Chretien's use of the female messenger archetypes, specifically a crystallization of the literary function of both the queen and the female messenger figures in his corpus.
Identifier: CFH2000569 (IID), ucf:45693 (fedora)
Note(s): 2019-08-01
B.A.
College of Arts and Humanities, Modern Languages and Literatures
Bachelors
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): character type
medieval literature
France
Foucault
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000569
Restrictions on Access: public
Host Institution: UCF

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