Category Archives: Fabliau

Aristotle: Aristotle’s come-uppance

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About the scene and clip:
In this clip four performers act out how Alexander the Great’s beautiful Indian mistress teaches a lesson about the irresistibility of love to the philosopher Aristotle.

About the work:
The title of this fabliau—The Lay of Aristotle—probably suggests its relatively courtly style. It tells how Alexander the Great falls in love with a beautiful Indian woman and neglects his kingly duties. His tutor, the philosopher Aristotle, reproaches him for the affair and Alexander agrees to break with her. But unable to stay away, he reveals his problem to her. Determined to have revenge on Aristotle, she sets out to seduce him, and she succeeds in making him fall in love and play the fool for her: she rides around the field on his back as though he were an ass—while Alexander is a witness to Aristotle’s humiliation. Was Aristotle right, or wrong, to warn Alexander against Love?

About the genre:
Fabliaux are short comic tales. This narrative genre was extremely popular in the 13th and 14th centuries in France and elsewhere in Europe (Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale is a sophisticated fabliau). Fabliaux almost invariably deal with the passions of lust, gluttony, avarice–and with attempts to trick or deceive others. Characters are typically bourgeois, clerks and monks, or peasants–and often women. The treatment is comic or satirical, but fabliaux vary considerably. Some are extremely vulgar in language and treatment, inviting crude gestures in performance. Other fabliaux are based on puns or wordplay. Many have a moral at the end and some have ethical overtones throughout. A few fabliaux are refined and courtly in language and themes. Many fabliaux are anonymous, but a few are by known poets. Performance styles and strategies for the fabliaux probably varied considerably in the Middle Ages, according to the subject matter and characters, the poet, the performer(s), the occasion, and the kind of audience present.

About the edition/translation:
Abridged from Gallic Salt, ed./trans Robert L. Harrison, Berkeley, CA, University of California Press, 1974, pp. 268-289.

About the performer/ensemble:
Amanda Guillett is a Drama student in the CAP 21 Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2004). Alexander Sarian is a student in Educational Theatre at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education (2004). Jak Peters is a Drama student in the Meisner Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2004). Michael Ritchie is a PhD student in the French Department at New York University; he served as Teaching Assistant in “Acting Medieval Literature” (2004).

About the production:
This performance was created for the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz at New York University in spring 2004. It took place in May 2004 in the Great Hall of 19 University Place at New York University, at a public gathering of medievalists held under the auspices of the Colloquium for Orality, Writing and Culture, co-convenors Prof. Nancy Freeman Regalado and Prof. Vitz. The performance was videoed by NYU-TV.

St. Peter and Jongleur: Puppets, 2

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About the scene and clip:
This clip tells one episode from the fabliau: Saint Peter arrives in hell and plays dice with the minstrel. The performer tells the story, with the puppets miming the action.

About the work:
This fabliau tells how Saint Peter rescued all the souls from hell by winning at dice against a bumbling minstrel who had been left in charge while Satan was busy elsewhere; it may well be a parody of the Harrowing of Hell in which Christ rescued the souls of the just from hell.

About the genre:
Fabliaux are short comic tales. This narrative genre was extremely popular in the 13th and 14th centuries in France and elsewhere in Europe (Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale is a sophisticated fabliau). Fabliaux almost invariably deal with the passions of lust, gluttony, avarice–and with attempts to trick or deceive others. Characters are typically bourgeois, clerks and monks, or peasants–and often women. The treatment is comic or satirical. But fabliaux vary considerably. Some are extremely vulgar in language and treatment, inviting crude gestures in performance. Other fabliaux are based on puns or wordplay. Many have a moral at the end and some have ethical overtones throughout. A few fabliaux are refined and courtly in language and themes. Many fabliaux are anonymous, but a few are by known poets. Performance styles and strategies for the fabliaux probably varied considerably in the Middle Ages, according to the subject matter and characters, the poet, the performer(s), the occasion, and the kind of audience present.

About the edition/translation:
Abridged and adapted from Fabliaux, Fair and Foul, trans. John DuVal, Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, Binghamton, NY, 1992, p. 133. Old French edition: “St. Pierre et le jongleur,” inNouveau Recueil des Fabliaux, eds. Willem Noomen and Nico van den Boogaard, Assen, Van Gorcum, vol. I, 1983.

About the performer/ensemble:
Emily Rouch is a Drama student at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2004).

About the production:
This performance was created for the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz at New York University in spring 2004. It took place in an open class held at the Maison Française in April 2004, and was videoed by NYU-TV.

Hunchbacks: Wife hires man to dispose of dead bodies

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About the scene and clip:
The wife, having discovered to her dismay that the three hunchbacks have suffocated in the trunks where she had hidden them, hires a man to dispose of the three dead bodies. Each time he takes one away, she brings out another and accuses him of not having done the job. In this clip the performer focuses both on the role of the wife, played quite seductively, and on the increasingly exasperation and alarm of the man attempting to dispose of what he thinks is a single hunchback. Comic recourse to costume is an important element in the performance.

About the work:
The Three Hunchbacks is a comic tale about a man who marries off his daughter to a jealous hunchback–and about the wife’s clever stratagem to get rid of the bodies of three hunchbacked minstrels who suffocated in trunks in her chamber; her nasty husband is disposed of as well. The website contains several clips drawn from this fabliau, exemplifying some of the many ways in which this story can be performed.

About the genre:
Fabliaux are short comic tales. This narrative genre was extremely popular in the 13th and 14th centuries in France and elsewhere in Europe (Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale is a sophisticated fabliau). Fabliaux almost invariably deal with the passions of lust, gluttony, avarice–and with attempts to trick or deceive others. Characters are typically bourgeois, clerks and monks, or peasants–and often women. The treatment is comic or satirical. But fabliaux vary considerably. Some are extremely vulgar in language and treatment, inviting crude gestures in performance. Other fabliaux are based on puns or wordplay. Many have a moral at the end and some have ethical overtones throughout. A few fabliaux are refined and courtly in language and themes. Many fabliaux are anonymous, but a few are by known poets. Performance styles and strategies for the fabliaux probably varied considerably in the Middle Ages, according to the subject matter and characters, the poet, the performer(s), the occasion, and the kind of audience present.

About the edition/translation:
Abridged from Fabliaux Fair and Foul, trans. John Duval, Pegasus/ Medieval & Renaissance Texts, Binghamton, NY, 1992, pp. 143-145. Old French: Fabliaux, ed. R.C. Johnston and D.D.R. Owen, Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1965 (other Old French editions also exist).

About the performer/ensemble:
Michael Ritchie is a PhD student in the French Department at New York University. He served as Teaching Assistant in “Acting Medieval Literature” (2004).

About the production:
This scene was performed and filmed in a classroom in “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz at New York University in spring 2004.

Hunchbacks: Servant tries to dispose of bodies

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About the scene and clip:
The wife has hired a man to get rid of the bodies of the three dead hunchbacks. Each time he takes one away, she brings out another from the trunks where they suffocated and accuses him of not having done the job. In this clip, the performer focuses on the attempts of the man to dispose of what he thinks is a single hunchback, and on his frustration and increasing alarm at the repeated reappearance of dead hunchbacks.

About the work:
The Three Hunchbacks is a comic tale about a man who marries off his daughter to a jealous hunchback–and about the wife’s clever stratagem to get rid of the bodies of three hunchbacked minstrels who suffocated in trunks in her chamber; her nasty husband is disposed of as well. The website contains several clips drawn from this fabliau, exemplifying some of the many ways in which this story can be performed.

About the genre:
Fabliaux are short comic tales. This narrative genre was extremely popular in the 13th and 14th centuries in France and elsewhere in Europe (Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale is a sophisticated fabliau). Fabliaux almost invariably deal with the passions of lust, gluttony, avarice–and with attempts to trick or deceive others. Characters are typically bourgeois, clerks and monks, or peasants–and often women. The treatment is comic or satirical. But fabliaux vary considerably. Some are extremely vulgar in language and treatment, inviting crude gestures in performance. Other fabliaux are based on puns or wordplay. Many have a moral at the end and some have ethical overtones throughout. A few fabliaux are refined and courtly in language and themes. Many fabliaux are anonymous, but a few are by known poets. Performance styles and strategies for the fabliaux probably varied considerably in the Middle Ages, according to the subject matter and characters, the poet, the performer(s), the occasion, and the kind of audience present.

About the edition/translation:
Abridged from Fabliaux Fair and Foul, trans. John Duval, Binghamton, NY, Pegasus/ Medieval & Renaissance Texts, 1992, pp. 143-146. Old French: Fabliaux, ed. R.C. Johnston and D.D.R. Owen, Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1965 (other Old French editions also exist).

About the performer/ensemble:
Jak Peters is a Drama student in the Meisner Studio at New York University Tisch School of the Arts (2004).

About the production:
This scene was performed and filmed in a classroom in “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz at New York University in spring 2004.

Hunchbacks: Inebriated minstrel starts telling the fabliau

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About the scene and clip:
The performer, pretending to be somewhat drunk, begins to tell the fabliau of The Three Hunchbacks. Many scenes in medieval literature show enjoyment of inebriated characters or performers.

About the work:
The Three Hunchbacks is a comic tale about a man who marries off his daughter to a jealous hunchback–and about the wife’s clever stratagem to get rid of the bodies of three hunchbacked minstrels who suffocated in trunks in her chamber; her nasty husband is disposed of as well. The website contains several clips drawn from this fabliau, exemplifying some of the many ways in which this story can be performed.

About the genre:
Fabliaux are short comic tales. This narrative genre was extremely popular in the 13th and 14th centuries in France and elsewhere in Europe (Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale is a sophisticated fabliau). Fabliaux almost invariably deal with the passions of lust, gluttony, avarice–and with attempts to trick or deceive others. Characters are typically bourgeois, clerks and monks, or peasants–and often women. The treatment is comic or satirical. But fabliaux vary considerably. Some are extremely vulgar in language and treatment, inviting crude gestures in performance. Other fabliaux are based on puns or wordplay. Many have a moral at the end and some have ethical overtones throughout. A few fabliaux are refined and courtly in language and themes. Many fabliaux are anonymous, but a few are by known poets. Performance styles and strategies for the fabliaux probably varied considerably in the Middle Ages, according to the subject matter and characters, the poet, the performer(s), the occasion, and the kind of audience present.

About the edition/translation:
Fabliaux Fair and Foul, trans. John Duval, Pegasus/ Medieval & Renaissance Texts, Binghamton, NY, 1992, pp. 140-141. French: Fabliaux, ed. R.C. Johnston and D.D.R. Owen, Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1965 (other French editions also exist).

About the performer/ensemble:
Andrew Porter is a Film and TV student at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2004); he videoed many scenes for this website.

About the production:
This performance was created for the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz at New York University in spring 2004. It took place in an open class held at the Maison Française in April 2004, and was videoed by NYU-TV.

Partridges: Wife devours birds

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About the scene and clip:
This performance represents an experiment with mimed action: one performer mimes the furtive but passionate eating of the partridges, while readers narrate the story.

About the work:
In The Partridges (Les Perdris), an anonymous fabliau, a wife cannot resist devouring the partridges she and her husband were to eat for dinner. The priest, who was to have joined them for dinner, arrives just as the husband is sharpening his knife to carve the partridges. The wife tells her husband that the priest has stolen the partridges, and she tells the priest that her husband wants to castrate him with his knife. The terrified priest runs vs rolex daytona 116520bkso mens rolex calibre 7750 mingzhu engine hands and markers away with the husband at his heels.

About the genre:
Fabliaux are short comic tales. This narrative genre was extremely popular in the 13th and 14th centuries in France and elsewhere in Europe (Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale is a sophisticated fabliau). Fabliaux almost invariably deal with the passions of lust, gluttony, avarice–and with attempts to trick or deceive others. Characters are typically bourgeois, clerks and monks, or peasants–and often women. The treatment is comic or satirical. But fabliaux vary considerably. Some are extremely vulgar in language and treatment, inviting crude gestures in performance. Other fabliaux are based on puns or wordplay. Many have a moral at the end and some have ethical overtones throughout. A few fabliaux are refined and courtly in language and themes. Many fabliaux are anonymous, but a few are by known poets. Performance styles green apple flum and strategies for the fabliaux probably varied considerably in the Middle Ages, according to the subject matter and characters, the poet, the performer(s), the occasion, and the kind of audience present.

About the edition/translation:
This performance is drawn from Fabliaux, Fair and Foul, trans. John DuVal, Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, Binghamton, NY, 1992 (pp. 46-49), pp.46-47; II. 1-52. Original: Le Nouveau recueil complet des fabliaux, eds. Willem Noomen & Nico van den Boogaard, Assen: Van Gorcum, Vol. IV (1983), pp. 8-12.

About the performer/ensemble:
Stacey Sund (the wife) is a Drama student at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts; the readers are Amanda Espinosa (New York University’s College of Arts and Science: Spanish major) and Gabriella Mongiovi (New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts: Drama) (2002).

About the production:
This scene was performed and filmed during a class titled “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. E.B. Vitz at New York University in fall 2002.

Knights, Clerks and Churls

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About the scene and clip:
This tale contrasts the reactions of two knights, two clerks, and two churls as each pair looks at a beautiful meadow: the knights see it as an ideal spot for a fancy picnic; the clerks (medieval students), as a place to make love with a woman; the churls (peasants) as the perfect place in which to defecate. The fabliau reflects and plays with medieval ideas of class differences. In this clip, two performers act out the three pairs of characters; they also interact in a comic and vulgar way with their audience of fellow-students and with the third performer who reads parts of the story aloud. Props are used: a fake buttocks and chocolate turds.

About the work:
See “About the scene” (above).

About the genre:
Fabliaux are short comic tales. This narrative genre was extremely popular in the 13th and 14th centuries in France and elsewhere in Europe (Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale is a sophisticated fabliau). Fabliaux almost invariably deal with the passions of lust, gluttony, avarice–and with attempts to trick or deceive others. Characters are typically bourgeois, clerks and monks, or peasants–and often women. The treatment is comic or satirical. But fabliaux vary considerably. Some are extremely vulgar in language and treatment, inviting crude gestures in performance. Other fabliaux are based on puns or wordplay. Many have a moral at the end and some have ethical overtones throughout. A few fabliaux are refined and courtly in language and themes. Many fabliaux are anonymous, but a few are by known poets. Performance styles and strategies for the fabliaux probably varied considerably in the Middle Ages, according to the subject matter and characters, the poet, the performer(s), the occasion, and the kind of audience present.

About the edition/translation:
This performance is drawn from Fabliaux, Fair and Foul, trans. John DuVal, Medieval and Renaissance Texts & Studies, Binghamton, NY, 1992, pp. 44-45. Original: Fabliaux et contes des poètes français des XI, XII, XIII, XIV et XVe siècles, ed. Étienne Barbazan, Paris, Chez B. Waree oncle, 1808, Vol. 3., 28-29.

About the performer/ensemble:
Justin Fair is a Drama Student in the Atlantic Acting School at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2003). Andrew Kahrl is a student in the Playwrights Horizons Theatre School at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2003). Brooke Stanley is double majoring in Drama and Political Science at New York University (2002).

About the production:
This scene was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. E.B. Vitz at New York University in fall 2002. This performance was filmed for a class held at the Maison Française.

St. Peter and Jongleur: Puppets, 1

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About the scene and clip:
This clip is a free adaptation of the entire fabliau [see “about the work”], using puppets and contemporary American show-tunes.

About the work:
This fabliau tells how St. Peter rescued all the souls from hell by winning at dice against a bumbling minstrel who had been left in charge while Satan was busy elsewhere; it may well be a parody of the Harrowing of Hell in which Christ rescued the souls of the just from Hell.

About the genre:
Fabliaux are short comic tales. This narrative genre was extremely popular in the 13th and 14th centuries in France and elsewhere in Europe (Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale is a sophisticated fabliau). Fabliaux almost invariably deal with the passions of lust, gluttony, avarice–and with attempts to trick or deceive others. Characters are typically bourgeois, clerks and monks, or peasants–and often women. The treatment is comic or satirical. But fabliaux vary considerably. Some are extremely vulgar in language and treatment, inviting crude gestures in performance. Other fabliaux are based on puns or wordplay. Many have a moral at the end and some have ethical overtones throughout. A few fabliaux are refined and courtly in language and themes. Many fabliaux are anonymous, but a few are by known poets. Performance styles and strategies for the fabliaux probably varied considerably in the Middle Ages, according to the subject matter and characters, the poet, the performer(s), the occasion, and the kind of audience present.

About the edition/translation:
Abridged and adapted from Fabliaux, Fair and Foul, trans. John DuVal, Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, Binghamton, NY, 1992, pp. 130-139; French edition: “St. Pierre et le jongleur,” inNouveau Recueil des Fabliaux, eds. Willem Noomen and Nico van den Boogaard, Assen: Van Gorcum, Vol. I (1983).

About the performer/ensemble:
Kelly Houlihan graduated in May 2003 from New York University with a major in French.

About the production:
This performance was originally created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz in fall 2001. This clip comes from a performance that took place in September 2003 at the Maison Française of New York University at an informal gathering of medievalists held under the auspices of the Colloquium for Orality, Writing and Culture, co-convenors Prof. Nancy Freeman Regalado and Prof. Vitz. The performance was videoed by NYU-TV.