Chretien de Troyes' Use of Figurative Language in His Works
Hannah Perkins
ENGL-H295-033
October 12, 2012
The Works of Chretien De Troyes In today’s literary realm, many stories are told with a straightforward context, a typical structure, and a message in plain sight. These messages, or morals, take little to no thinking for the audience to obtain. In the commonly known Cinderella, the most obvious moral is to “treat others how you would like to be treated.” In that story, the people who act cruel and wicked find themselves in a place of distress, misfortune, and misery. Cinderella, whose heart is kind, is a very hard worker and treats everyone with respect and kindness. She treats everyone as equals: the magical fairy godmother, the talking mice, and even the evil stepmother. In the end, Cinderella is blessed with the great gift of becoming a princess. She is finally treated how she treats others. However, some stories with skillful creativity and literary talent give their audience a greater challenge in finding the moral. In the late 12th century, Chretien De Troyes worked to help create the story of King Arthur by mainly focusing on Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table. In each of Chretien’s stories, he had strong morals, or value judgments concerning human behavior, for his audience to observe. For each moral, he disguises them by using literary devices to address his audience in a subtle but transforming way. However, during this time, many of his stories were controversial due to the value judgments he attempted to share with his particular audience. Two of Chretien’s most famous stories are Erec and Enide and The Knight of the Cart. Between these two stories, many morals are brought to light, and Chretien cleverly addresses them with his audience through language. Beginning with Erec and Enide, this story is about a couple who finds their true love for each other through a long journey of different confrontations and obstacles. One of the most prominent morals illustrated was that only a man of great
ENGL-H295-033
October 12, 2012
The Works of Chretien De Troyes In today’s literary realm, many stories are told with a straightforward context, a typical structure, and a message in plain sight. These messages, or morals, take little to no thinking for the audience to obtain. In the commonly known Cinderella, the most obvious moral is to “treat others how you would like to be treated.” In that story, the people who act cruel and wicked find themselves in a place of distress, misfortune, and misery. Cinderella, whose heart is kind, is a very hard worker and treats everyone with respect and kindness. She treats everyone as equals: the magical fairy godmother, the talking mice, and even the evil stepmother. In the end, Cinderella is blessed with the great gift of becoming a princess. She is finally treated how she treats others. However, some stories with skillful creativity and literary talent give their audience a greater challenge in finding the moral. In the late 12th century, Chretien De Troyes worked to help create the story of King Arthur by mainly focusing on Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table. In each of Chretien’s stories, he had strong morals, or value judgments concerning human behavior, for his audience to observe. For each moral, he disguises them by using literary devices to address his audience in a subtle but transforming way. However, during this time, many of his stories were controversial due to the value judgments he attempted to share with his particular audience. Two of Chretien’s most famous stories are Erec and Enide and The Knight of the Cart. Between these two stories, many morals are brought to light, and Chretien cleverly addresses them with his audience through language. Beginning with Erec and Enide, this story is about a couple who finds their true love for each other through a long journey of different confrontations and obstacles. One of the most prominent morals illustrated was that only a man of great
Cited: Lewis, C.S. The allegory of Love: a Study of Medieval Tradition. London: Oxford University Press, 1951. Print. Staines, David. The Complete Romances of Chretien De Troyes. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990. Print.