Violent Passions: Managing Love in the Old French Verse Romance (Studies in Arthurian and Courtly Cultures)

324 Pages·2005·1.32 MB·English

by  Tracy Adams

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VIOLENT PASSIONS
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STUDIES IN ARTHURIAN AND
COURTLY CULTURES
The dynamic field of Arthurian Studies is the subject for this book
series, Studies in Arthurian and Courtly Cultures, which explores the
great variety of literary and cultural expression inspired by the lore of
King Arthur, the Round Table, and the Grail. In forms that range
from medieval chronicles to popular films, from chivalric romances
to contemporary comics, from magic realism to feminist fantasy—and
from the sixth through the twenty-first centuries—few literary subjects
provide such fertile ground for cultural elaboration. Including works in
literary criticism, cultural studies, and history, Studies in Arthurian and
Courtly Cultures highlights the most significant new Arthurian Studies.
Bonnie Wheeler,Southern Methodist University
Series Editor
Editorial Board:
James Carley,York University
Jeffrey Jerome Cohen,American University
Virginie Greene,Harvard University
Siân Echard,University of British Columbia
Sharon Kinoshita,University of California,Santa Cruz
Alan Lupack,University of Rochester
Andrew Lynch,University of Western Australia
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VIOLENT PASSIONS
MANAGING LOVE IN THE OLD FRENCH
VERSE ROMANCE
Tracy Adams
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VIOLENTPASSIONS
© Tracy Adams,2005.
All rights reserved.No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
First published in 2005 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™
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PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave
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and other countries.Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European
Union and other countries.
ISBN 1–4039–6294–4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Adams,Tracey.
Violent passions :managing love in the Old French verse romance /
Tracey Adams.
p.cm.—(Studies in Arthurian and courtly cultures)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1–4039–6294–4 (alk.paper)
1.French poetry—To 1500—History and criticism.2.Love in
literature.I.Title.II.Series.
PQ155.L7A43 2005
841(cid:1).033309354—dc22 2004043175
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd.,Chennai,India.
First edition:September 2005
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America.
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For Thesi and Rex
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
List of Abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
1. The Problem of Love 11
2. The Mad Lovers of the Ovidian Lais 37
3. Marriage and Amor 75
4. The Roman d’Eneasand the Erotics of Empire Building 107
5. “Making Love”in Béroul and Thomas’s Tristans 145
6. TheMagister Amorisand his Willful Lovers:Cligésand
theChevalier de la Charrete 187
Conclusion 237
Notes 245
Bibliography 287
Index 307
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It is a pleasure to acknowledge those who have helped bring this project to
completion.I am grateful to my advisors at the Johns Hopkins University,
Stephen G.Nichols,John W.Baldwin,and Herbert Kessler,and the University
of Geneva,Jacqueline Cerquiglini,and Charles Méla,who guided me through
the process of writing a dissertation and offered invaluable suggestions on how
to move on to the book stage.Christine Adams,Constant Mews,Julia Sims
Holderness,and Florian and Sara Preisig have been unstintingly generous with
their useful critical comments and moral support over the past ten years.I am
also grateful to Daniel L.Smail and Lori J.Walters for sharing their expertise.
I owe a very special thanks to Willard Martin and my colleagues at the
University of Maryland, University College, Schwäbisch Gmünd, and to
Stephanie Hollis and the members of the Centre for Medieval and Early
Modern Studies at the University of Auckland for providing a forum for
discussing many of the ideas that appear in this study.
Grants from the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland,
University College,made research possible in the earliest stages,as well as an
Edouard Morot-Sir Research Fellowship in Literature.Later a University of
Auckland New Staff Research Fund Grant and a University of Auckland Early
Career Research Excellence Award allowed me to complete the study.
Some of the material that appears in chapter five was published earlier,
as “Archetypes and Copies in Thomas’s Tristan:A Re-examination of the
Salle aux Images Scene,” in Romanic Review,“‘Pur vostre cor su jo em
paine’:The Augustininan Subtext of Thomas’s Tristan,”in Medium Aevum,
and ‘Making Love’in the Tristan et Iseutof Béroul,”in Philological Quarterly.
I thank the editors and publishers for permission to reprint this material.
To Sylvie Sadarnac-Studney,Tanguy Le Doujet,and Nadine Cyna,who
taught me to speak French and welcomed me into their homes time and
again, I can only say “Without these friendships—life, what cauchemar!”
Apologies to Glenn and to our children Danny and Elise for all the times
Ihad to work along with my deepest gratitude for their patience.Without
the support of Thesi and Oscar Rechtschaffen this book would not have
been possible;I dedicate it to them,and to all academics teaching four/four
loads and writing their first book while raising small children.