The Community and its Champion
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Geert van Iersel
Abstract
This paper examines two closely related romances of the late Middle Ages: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (ca. 1375-1400) and The Greene Knight (ca. 1500). Whereas the oldest of these two romances has been studied extensively, fairly little attention has been paid to its sibling. Yet The Greene Knight makes a number of choices which clearly set it apart from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. I here argue that while Sir Gawain and the Green Knight explores the main character’s responses to the circumstances arising from the Green Knight’s challenge in order to raise questions about his community’s ability to fully live up to its ideals, the latter romance ultimately utilises the interactions between the main character and the Green Knight to celebrate the Arthurian community’s ability to attract and bind opposing forces.
Abstract
This paper examines two closely related romances of the late Middle Ages: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (ca. 1375-1400) and The Greene Knight (ca. 1500). Whereas the oldest of these two romances has been studied extensively, fairly little attention has been paid to its sibling. Yet The Greene Knight makes a number of choices which clearly set it apart from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. I here argue that while Sir Gawain and the Green Knight explores the main character’s responses to the circumstances arising from the Green Knight’s challenge in order to raise questions about his community’s ability to fully live up to its ideals, the latter romance ultimately utilises the interactions between the main character and the Green Knight to celebrate the Arthurian community’s ability to attract and bind opposing forces.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Inhalt v
- Vorwort der Herausgeber ix
-
I. Die emotionale Seite der Figur: Innensicht und ›Figurenpsychologie‹
- Artusrittertum und Melancholie 3
- Emotionen in den Tristan-Romanen: Zorn- und Wutausbrüche 19
- »Wes das Herz voll ist, des gehet der Mund über« 31
- Was fühlen Erzähler? 47
- Zur Psycho-Logik bei Wolfram 63
- Palamède im Spiegel seiner selbst im Tristan en Prose 87
- Innensicht und Außensicht 99
- Enites schöne Seele 117
-
II. Die emotionale Seite der Handlung: Figurenkonzeption und Handlungsmotivation
- Die Tränen der Cunneware 155
- Lancelot – eine komplexe Figur zwischen höfischer Liebe und Gralsrittertum 173
- Eine flache Figur? 185
- The Community and its Champion 197
- Verflachung der Emotionen? 213
- Emotion und Handlungsmotivation in Sir Tristrem 229
- Ginovers Krise 243
- Motiviertes Handeln oder fixe Rollenzuteilung 271
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Inhalt v
- Vorwort der Herausgeber ix
-
I. Die emotionale Seite der Figur: Innensicht und ›Figurenpsychologie‹
- Artusrittertum und Melancholie 3
- Emotionen in den Tristan-Romanen: Zorn- und Wutausbrüche 19
- »Wes das Herz voll ist, des gehet der Mund über« 31
- Was fühlen Erzähler? 47
- Zur Psycho-Logik bei Wolfram 63
- Palamède im Spiegel seiner selbst im Tristan en Prose 87
- Innensicht und Außensicht 99
- Enites schöne Seele 117
-
II. Die emotionale Seite der Handlung: Figurenkonzeption und Handlungsmotivation
- Die Tränen der Cunneware 155
- Lancelot – eine komplexe Figur zwischen höfischer Liebe und Gralsrittertum 173
- Eine flache Figur? 185
- The Community and its Champion 197
- Verflachung der Emotionen? 213
- Emotion und Handlungsmotivation in Sir Tristrem 229
- Ginovers Krise 243
- Motiviertes Handeln oder fixe Rollenzuteilung 271
