TY - JOUR
T1 - Hideus a desmesure
T2 - Monsters and monstrous knights in early French romance
AU - Hubble, Elizabeth A.
PY - 2004
Y1 - 2004
N2 - From Beowulf to Marco Polo, monsters figure prominently across the medieval landscape. This essay looks at three medieval French romances whose representations of monstrosity allow the reader to interrogate the role of the monster as that which the knight must overcome. Exploring the complex relationship between knighthood and monstrosity, this essay argues that monsters can represent an integral part of what makes a knight a knight. Beginning with two more well-known characters from Chrétien de Troyes, this essay moves on to examine the monsters in the proto-romance, Le Roman de Thèbes. Monsters abound in Thèbes, and the most insidious monsters may be the heroes themselves. The text's monstrous rhetoric illuminates the paradox of Oedipus's sons - they are both valiant knights, in the mode of later courtly heroes, and monsters. Ultimately, this study interrogates the role of monstrosity in the developing genre of romance.
AB - From Beowulf to Marco Polo, monsters figure prominently across the medieval landscape. This essay looks at three medieval French romances whose representations of monstrosity allow the reader to interrogate the role of the monster as that which the knight must overcome. Exploring the complex relationship between knighthood and monstrosity, this essay argues that monsters can represent an integral part of what makes a knight a knight. Beginning with two more well-known characters from Chrétien de Troyes, this essay moves on to examine the monsters in the proto-romance, Le Roman de Thèbes. Monsters abound in Thèbes, and the most insidious monsters may be the heroes themselves. The text's monstrous rhetoric illuminates the paradox of Oedipus's sons - they are both valiant knights, in the mode of later courtly heroes, and monsters. Ultimately, this study interrogates the role of monstrosity in the developing genre of romance.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=61949217699&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1353/cjm.2004.0050
DO - 10.1353/cjm.2004.0050
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:61949217699
SN - 0069-6412
VL - 35
SP - 45
EP - 70
JO - Comitatus
JF - Comitatus
ER -