Table Of ContentINFORMATION TO USERS
This dissertation was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document.
While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this
document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of
the original submitted.
The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand
markings or patterns which may appear on this reproduction.
1. The sign or "target" for pages apparently lacking from the document
photographed is "Missing Page(s)". If it was possible to obtain the
missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with
adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting thru an image and
duplicating adjacent pages to insure you complete continuity.
2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a large round black
mark, it is an indication that the photographer suspected that the
copy may have moved during exposure and thus cause a blurred
image. You will find a good image of the page in the adjacent frame.
3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., was part of the material being
photographed the photographer followed a definite method in
"sectioning" the material. It is customary to begin photoing at the
upper left hand comer of a large sheet and to continue photoing from
left to right in equal sections with a small overlap. If necessary,
sectioning is continued again — beginning below the first row and
continuing on until complete.
4. The majority of users indicate that the textual content is of greatest
value, however, a somewhat higher quality reproduction could be
made from "photographs" if essential to the understanding of the
dissertation. Silver prints of "photographs" may be ordered at
additional charge by writing the Order Department, giving the catalog
number, title, author and specific pages you wish reproduced.
University Microfilms
3Q0 North Zeeb Road
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106
A Xerox Education Company
72-25,1+95
LAUGHLIN, Virginia Lillian, 1924-
THE FABLIAUX AND THE NATURALISTIC TRADITION.
[Portions of Text in French]
The University of Arizona, Ph.D., 1972
Language and Literature, general
University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan
0 1972
VIRGINIA LILLIAN LAUGHLIN
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
THE FABLIAUX AND THE NATURALISTIC TRADITION
ty
Virginia Lillian Laughlin
A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the
DEPARTMENT OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES
WITH A MAJOR IN FRENCH
In partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
In the Graduate College
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
19 7 2
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
GRADUATE COLLEGE
I hereby recommend that this dissertation prepared under my
direction by Vlr^3 Lillian Lftllghl1 n
entitled The Fabliaux and the Naturalistic TnwM-Mpn
be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement of the
degree of Doctor of Ptrtlftfnphy
% -h g /? 72-
T7 ^T
Dissertation Directory
After inspection of the final copy of the dissertation, the
following members of the Final Examination Committee concur in
its approval and recommend its acceptance:*"
£• ? ^~-
- - / t 2
f * " (V\ • ( fi. <S> Q—^ V ) \ ^ "1 T-.
$ L T Z/wtL "To/!^ a, /972-
This approval and acceptance is contingent on the candidate's
adequate performance and defense of this dissertation at the
final oral examination. The inclusion of this sheet bound into
the library copy of the dissertation is evidence of satisfactory
performance at the final examination.
PLEASE NOTE:
Some pages may have
indistinct print.
Filmed as received.
University Microfilms, A Xerox Education Company
STATEMENT BY AUTHOR
This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment
of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona
and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to
borrowers under the rules of the Library.
- Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable with
out special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of
source is made.. Requests for permission for extended quotation
from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be
granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the
Graduate College when in his judgment the proposed use of the
material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances,
however, permission must be obtained from the author.
SIGNEDi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ABSTRACT . v
CHAPTER
1. INTRODUCTION . ........ 1
2. THE CLASSIC DEFINITION OF THE FABLIAU 17
3. BEDIER AND NYKROGt A FALLACIOUS APPROACH TO
THE FABLIAUX 23
Bedler's Theories 23
Nykrog's Theories 32
4. NATURALISM, THE NATURALISTIC TRADITION, AND
THE FABLIAUX 43
5. LITERARY STUDY . 51
Le Fevre de Creell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Plot Summary .... ••••••••• 52
Literary Criticism ... ••••• 53
Le Chevalier Qui Fist Sa Fame Confesse ....... 58
Plot Summary 58
Literary Criticism ............... 60
Lea Trols Dames Qui Troverent L'Ariel ........ 68
Plot Summary .................. 68
Literary Criticism •••••••••••••.. 72
Aloul ....... ••••••• 84
Plot Summary 84
Literary Criticism ••••••••• 88
6. THE TEXTS ................. 95
The Manuscript . 95
Le Fevre de Creell . » • • • • • • • • • 97
111
iv
TABI£ OP CONTENTS—Continued.
Page
Le Chevalier Qui Fist Sa Fame Confesse ....... 105
Les Trols Dames Qui Troverent L'Anel 117
Aloul . 128
7. CONCLUSION ...... 167
8. TEXTUAL NOTES 173
Le Fevre de Creeil ... ••••••••• IT2*
Le Chevalier Q.ul Fist Sa Fame Confesse • • • • • • » 177
Les Trols Dames Qui Troverent L'Anel . « • • • • • • 180
Aloul 184
LIST OF DEFERENCES 191
ABSTRACT
The fabliaux ace a body of approximately 150 short humorous
tales written in Old French octosyllabic couplets during the period
from the very late twelfth century to the first third of the fourteenth
century. Until the rise of interest in philological criticism in the
last part of the nineteenth century, the fabliaux were largely ignored*
With the new attention to Old French texts which manifested itself
during the latter half of the last century, however, interest in the
fabliaux increased.
Anatole de Montaiglon and Gaston Raynaud, between 1872 and 1890,
compiled all of the fabliaux and edited them in six volumes. This
phenomenal work may have inspired Joseph Bedier to write what was to
be considered the definitive work on the fabliaux: his elegant and
scholarly Les Fabliaux: etudes de litterature populalre et d'histoire
du Hoyen Age, published in 1893*
Later scholarship was responsible for numerous articles and
books on various thematic aspects of the fabliaux. There were a few
editions of one or more texts. Generally, however, interest in the
tales declined, and scholarly attention lagged. It was not until
near the mid-twentieth century that a new curloBity appeared, partly,
perhaps, because of a revival of scholarly interest in Chaucer's
fabliaux. In 1957 Per Nykrog published his authoritative Les FaKHrmxi
Studes d'hlstolre litt&raire et de styllstique mSdlevale,
v
vi
Nykrog refuted Bedier*s theory of the fabliaux as a bourgeois genre
And substituted his own: the fabliaux are a courtly genre.
My study takes issue with both Bedier and Nykrog* maintaining
that their approach is fallacious because they put the emphasis on the
public and not on the texts. It shows that neither Bedier nor Nykrog
could prove conclusively that the public was either predominantly
courtly or bourgeois. I have investigated another approach, one which
places the fabliaux in a medieval naturalistic tradition and stresses
6tyle as an expression of attitudes and an outlook on life. I have
used an inductive approach to study four individual fabliaux, one at
a time i and 1 reaffirm the need for this kind of inductive gathering
of data in order to make valid judgments as to the nature of the
fabliaux. Previous criticism had Insisted on assuming a stylistic
unity without scientifically examining the evidence for such unity.
As a basis for close study of the texts themselves, I have
presented a new edition of the four Old French texts selected, using
modern critical techniques.
The fabliaux are not the artless creations of naive medieval
minds they were sometimes said to be. The examination of the stylistic
characteristics of each of the four fabliaux studied led me to conclude
that the tales are, indeed, artful and indicative of a conscious
dexterity.
Finally, I have suggested the need for further work on each
of the aspects exploredi editing the texts, the naturalistic tradition,
and the narrative art. Such study will lead to a more accurate
