The Romances of Chretien de Troyes

by Joseph J. Duggan

Twelfth-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes was one of the most influential figures in Western literature, for his romantic poems on the legend of King Arthur gave rise to a tradition of storytelling that continues to this day. This important and fascinating book is a study of all of Chrétien’s work.

Joseph J. Duggan begins with an introduction that sets Chrétien within the social and intellectual currents of his time. He then organizes the book in chapters that focus on major issues in Chrétien’s romances rather than on individual works, topics that range from the importance of kinship and genealogy to standards of secular moral responsibility and from Chrétien’s art of narration to his representation of knighthood. Duggan offers new perspectives on many of these in a chapter on the influence of Celtic mythology, for example, he gives special attention to the ways Chrétien integrated portrayals of motivation with mythic themes and characters, and in discussing the Grail romance, he explores the parallels between Perceval’s and Gauvain’s adventures.

Genres: Medieval, Fiction, Arthurian

413 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Jesse Whyte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good translation, really important material with respect to the Grail legend and Chretien's Perceval. The prose was a bit dry and I didn't appreciate the lack of line numbers. Notes were subpar as well.

[Suzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun bedtime reading - if read aloud it's the best. This is a good insight into the ideas behind courtly honour as well as a funny and well written bunch of adventure stories.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading these Medieval stories. My favorite one was Erec and Enide. I had to read these for one of my college classes on Medieval Literature and it was very interesting to be able to read.

I loved, in Erec and Enide, how it was set up into three acts and how all of them were so different from each other.

When I was rereading some other fiction that I really enjoy, I noticed some allusions to the Erec and Enide story, specifically the hunt of the White Stag which I thought was very cool. I'm not sure whether or not the author meant to do it, but it was definitely there.

I had to do a paper on Erec and Enide, so I was able to analyze their relationship and how i changes over the course of the story.

I'm keeping this review pretty short and I may come back to add more later.

I recommend this to anyone who really likes Medieval literature and stories about King Arthur and his court.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little dry