The medieval Hero and anti-hero in one and the same person: Huon de Bordeaux deconstructive perspectives on medieval literature

Classen, Albrecht

doi:10.1007/s11059-022-00645-x

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“…Medieval society was dominated by many different power groups that often got into conflict with each other. A close reading of significant courtly romances can easily lay bare major disagreements between the royal ruler and the major barons of his country, at least in political terms, and we also notice, beyond that conflict, further charges of the king as powerless, ignorant, naive, greedy, gluttonous, envious, or tyrannical (Schnell, 2017;Sunderland, 2017;Classen, 2022). After an overview of major literary documents addressing this issue, this article will examine the probably most vehement and acerbic example of court criticism from the pre-modern era, the Middle High German verse narrative Reinhart Fuchs from ca.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Medieval Royal Courts and Their Critics: A New Perspective on Courtly Romances and Verse Narratives, with an Emphasis on Heinrich der Glîchezâre’s Reinhart Fuchs

Classen¹

2023

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The topic of court criticism coupled with severe warnings about the dangers of a royal dictator or tyrant was well represented in medieval and early modern literature.Despite our common assumptions about the harmony and idyllic nature of King Arthur's court and the knights of the Round Table, a closer analysis quickly reveals the horrendous problems vexing medieval society (and our own, perhaps). However, medieval poets were careful not to take off their masks when they depicted evil rulers because they normally depended on their patrons. Nevertheless, the criticism of the evil ruler, and then especially of the criminally minded royal councilor (such as in the much later case of Iago in Shakespeare's Othello) finds vivid expression in more medieval texts than we might have assumed. After a survey of dramatic cases from pre-modern literature as a basis for the subsequent analysis, this article focuses on the Middle High German version of the Old French Roman de Renart by Heinrich der Glîchezâre (late twelfth century) where the protagonist, the fox Reinhart, operates with astounding intellectual acumen and sophistication to deceive, betray, hurt, and even get his opponents killed without any bad conscience.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Medieval Royal Courts and Their Critics: A New Perspective on Courtly Romances and Verse Narratives, with an Emphasis on Heinrich der Glîchezâre’s Reinhart Fuchs

Classen¹

2023

sdsl

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

The medieval Hero and anti-hero in one and the same person: Huon de Bordeaux deconstructive perspectives on medieval literature

Cited by 1 publication

References 20 publications

Medieval Royal Courts and Their Critics: A New Perspective on Courtly Romances and Verse Narratives, with an Emphasis on Heinrich der Glîchezâre’s Reinhart Fuchs

Medieval Royal Courts and Their Critics: A New Perspective on Courtly Romances and Verse Narratives, with an Emphasis on Heinrich der Glîchezâre’s Reinhart Fuchs

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