Yvain: Yvain’s lion

About the scene and clip:
The Lion is now Yvain’s companion. A solo performer, dressed in a full lion costume, narrates and acts out the part of the Lion.

About the work:
Yvain is one of the five surviving romances by Chrétien de Troyes, who is often considered the father of Arthurian romance. This great work, in octosyllabic rhymed couplets, was composed for Marie, Countess of Champagne, around 1170. The romance recounts the adventures of Yvain, a knight of King Arthur’s court, who wins the beautiful Laudine in marriage (having killed her husband in single combat). He then loses both her love and his honor through his failure to keep a vow to return home from his knightly activities by an agreed-upon date. The second half of the romance is devoted to adventures in which Yvain, accompanied by a lion, creates a new name for himself (the “Knight with the Lion”), recovers his honor through a series of good deeds, and finally wins back his wife.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

About the edition/translation:
Abridged from Yvain or The Knight with the Lion, trans. Ruth Harwood Cline, Athens, GA, University of Georgia Press, 1975, pp. 95, 3219-3446. Old French: Le Chevalier au Lion (Yvain) , ed./trans. David F. Hult, in Romans de Chrétien de Troyes, eds./trans. J.M. Fritz et al, Paris, Classiques Modernes/ Livre de Poche, 1994.

About the performer/ensemble:
Brian Butnick is a student in the Dramatic Writing program 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 fall 2004. It took place in an open class held at the Maison Française in, and was videoed by Jeff Spangler.

Hunchbacks: Wife hires man to dispose of dead bodies

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.

Gesta: Devil

About the scene and clip:
Two students work together, telling and acting out the story in a slow and stylized fashion, with a modest use of props. Recorded music provides a dramatic and mysterious background.

About the work:
The Gesta Romanorum is an anonymous collection of stories, written in Latin. Though the earliest manuscripts date from the 14th c., the stories were probably written earlier. The tales consist of stories allegedly about deeds of the ancient Romans, with a Christian moral attached at the end, and were probably used by preachers in their sermons. The work was widely known, and Boccaccio, Chaucer, and Shakespeare all retold tales drawn from it.

About the genre:
The tale, like the epic, is an ancient genre and one found everywhere in the world. Many tales are firmly rooted in oral tradition and are recited or told by amateur and professional storytellers and performers. Other tales are the work of literarily sophisticated authors and are often intended to be read aloud or silently from written texts. Some tales circulate separately, while others are part of collections which may be set in complex frames (as in the case of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Boccaccio’s Decameron and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales). There are many sub-groups of tales with specific characteristics; see for example the “lai” and the “fabliau.”

Allegory is a way of composing and of interpreting texts: characters and the plot point beyond themselves to something “other”—something symbolic. Characters are often personifications of forces such as Love, Pride, Reason, or Friendship. The plot is also symbolic: characters’ struggles are between vices and virtues; their journey may refer to life’s pilgrimage or to the discovery of some great truth, such as the nature of love. Works may be entirely allegorical, or may just contain brief passages written in this mode. Allegorical works are often strongly religious, philosophical, or moral.

About the edition/translation:
The Tales of the Gesta Romanorum, translated from the Latin by Charles Swan, revised by Wynnard Hooper, New York, Everest Books, 1959, pp. 55-6. Medieval Latin: Märchen und Legenden aus den Gesta Romanorum, mit Holzschnitten von Axel von Leckoschek, Leipzig, Insel, 1926.

About the performer/ensemble:
Donna Mazziotti is an English major at the College of Arts and Science and a Drama student in the Stella Adler Studio of Acting at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University (2004). Dorian Shorts is a Drama student in the CAP 21 Studio 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 was filmed in the classroom by Andrew Porter, a Film/TV student in the Tisch School of the Arts (2004).

Yvain: Lion attempts suicide

About the scene and clip:
The Lion attempts to kill himself, thinking that Yvain, to whom he is devoted, is dead – but then Yvain revives. The solo performer uses a modest costume (a cat’s nose) and a single prop (a sword).

About the work:
Yvain is one of the five surviving romances by Chrétien de Troyes, who is often considered the father of Arthurian romance. This great work, in octosyllabic rhymed couplets, was composed for Marie, Countess of Champagne, around 1170. The romance recounts the adventures of Yvain, a knight of King Arthur’s court, who wins the beautiful Laudine in marriage (having killed her husband in single combat). He then loses both her love and his honor through his failure to keep a vow to return home from his knightly activities by an agreed-upon date. The second half of the romance is devoted to adventures in which Yvain, accompanied by a lion, creates a new name for himself (the “Knight with the Lion”), recovers his honor through a series of good deeds, and finally wins back his wife.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

About the edition/translation:
Abridged from Yvain or The Knight with the Lion, trans. Ruth Harwood Cline, Athens, GA, University of Georgia Press, 1975, pp. 94-96. Old French: Le Chevalier au Lion (Yvain) , ed./trans. David F. Hult, inRomans de Chrétien de Troyes, eds./trans. J.M. Fritz et al, Paris, Classiques Modernes/ Livre de Poche, 1994.

About the performer/ensemble:
Dorian Shorts is a drama student in the Atlantic Acting School 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 March 1, 2004, and was videoed by NYU-TV.

Rose: Lover enters Garden of Mirth

About the scene and clip:
The Lover is let into the Garden of Mirth by Idleness (Oiseuse), who describes her way of life to the Lover who cannot wait to join this beautiful life. As well as telling the story, the performer also acts out the roles of the Lover and Idleness, making modest but effective use of costume elements and props.

About the work:
The Romance of the Rose is arguably the most influential French work of the Middle Ages. This work is a romance, composed in verse and treating of love. But it is a highly unusual romance in many regards. The Rose introduced into romance a set of major allegorical figures such as Love, Reason, and Danger; it established the popularity of the dream vision; and it launched a new fashion in pseudo-autobiographical narrative. The first 4000 lines (in octosyllabic rhymed couplets) were written by Guillaume de Lorris around 1230. This strongly lyrical part of the romance emphasizes the beauty of the Garden of Love, and the suffering by the Lover in his quest for love; Guillaume’s romance was left unfinished. Around 1280, Jean de Meun completed the work by adding close to 18,000 lines; his lengthy and learned text features speeches delivered by such characters as Reason, the Jealous Husband, the Old Woman, Nature, and Genius.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

Allegory is a way of composing and of interpreting texts: characters and the plot point beyond themselves to something “other”—something symbolic. Characters are often personifications of forces such as Love, Pride, Reason, or Friendship. The plot is also symbolic: characters’ struggles are between vices and virtues; their journey may refer to life’s pilgrimage or to the discovery of some great truth, such as the nature of love. Works may be entirely allegorical, or may just contain brief passages written in this mode. Allegorical works are often strongly religious, philosophical, or moral.

About the edition/translation:
Performance abridged from The Romance of the Rose, Harry W. Robbins trans., New York, Dutton, 1962, pp. 12-15. French edition: Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, Le Roman de la Rose, ed./[Modern French] trans. Armand Strubel, Paris, Lettres Gothiques, 1992.

About the performer/ensemble:
Gina Guadagnino graduated from New York University in May 2003 with a major in English; she minored in Medieval & Renaissance Studies and Irish Studies.

About the production:
This performance is one of a series done by Gina Guadagnino under the direction of Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz of New York University over the course of 2003 and 2004. The performance took place at an open class of “Acting Medieval Literature” held at the Maison Française in April 2004, and was videoed by NYU-TV.

Silence: Nature creates Silence

About the scene and clip:
Nature talks about her art, and creates Silence from her best mold, one that she has been saving up and has never used before. A student desk serves as a prop: Nature’s coffer. A hood is a simple costume.

About the work:
Silence tells the story of a girl whose parents raise her as a boy so that she can inherit their land. Silence, though inwardly conflicted over her true nature, becomes a successful knight and minstrel and unwittingly attracts the love of the queen. Silence is finally unmasked by the seer Merlin; now a woman, she wins the love of the king. This unusual romance contains major female characters whose names refer to speech (Silence and Euphemie) and the allegorical adversaries, Nature vs. Nurture. The website contains several clips from Silence that demonstrate some of the many different ways in which characters and scenes from this work can be performed.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

Allegory is a way of composing and of interpreting texts: characters and the plot point beyond themselves to something “other”—something symbolic. Characters are often personifications of forces such as Love, Pride, Reason, or Friendship. The plot is also symbolic: characters’ struggles are between vices and virtues; their journey may refer to life’s pilgrimage or to the discovery of some great truth, such as the nature of love. Works may be entirely allegorical, or may just contain brief passages written in this mode. Allegorical works are often strongly religious, philosophical, or moral.

About the edition/translation:
A Thirteenth-Century French Romance, Silence, ed. /trans. Sarah Roche-Mahdi, East Lansing, MI, Colleagues Press, 1992, pp. 89ff.

About the performer/ensemble:
Sean Russell is a Drama student in the Atlantic Acting School 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 was filmed in the classroom by Andrew Porter, a Film/TV student in the Tisch School of the Arts (2004).

Wedding of Gawain: What do women want?

About the scene and clip:
This clip shows two scenes from the romance. In the first, a strange knight demands that King Arthur find out what women want, or he will kill and dishonor him. In the second scene, the King and Gawain go in search of the answer; they discover that only the loathsome Dame Ragnell knows–and she will divulge the answer only if Gawain agrees to marry her. (He does marry her, and at the end Ragnell turns into a beautiful woman.) Here and throughout the video, the performer alternates between narrating and impersonating all the various characters in turn, using costumes, props, and stage settings.

About the work:
The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell is a late-medieval Arthurian romance, one of many Middle English romances devoted to the great knight of King Arthur’s court, Sir Gawain. The work is composed in tail-rhyme stanzas.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

About the edition/translation:
Sir Gawain: Eleven Romances and Tales, ed. Thomas G. Hahn, Kalamazoo, MI, TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages), Middle English Texts Series, 1995.

About the performer/ensemble:
Linda Marie Zaerr is Professor of English at Boise State University (2004) and a professional performer of medieval literature who has performed widely at scholarly conferences and given many concerts. In her performances she narrates, acts, sings, and plays the vielle.

About the production:
The video from which this clip is taken was recorded by the Chaucer Studio, with support from TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages), Kalamazoo, MI. For purschase and further information, contact the director of the Chaucer Studio, Professor Paul Thomas (paul_thomas@byu.edu; phone: 801-422-2531).

Rose or Dole: Scenes

About the scene and clip:
This clip shows five scenes from the “Teaching Medieval Romance through Video Performance” video of The Romance of the Rose or of Guillaume de Dole. The first scene shows rejoicing, dancing and singing in the court of the Emperor Conrad. In the second scene, Conrad has just fallen madly in love with Lienor after hearing her beauty and virtue praised by Jouglet, and he sings about his love while Jouglet plays the vielle. The third scene shows Lienor singing a “chanson de toile” (a weaving song) for her family and guests. These three scenes emphasize the ways in which songs sung by the characters in the romance, along with instrumental music and dancing, have been inserted by the poet into the narrative. This video takes special interest in the musical sv rolex day date m118348 0149 mens 36mm automatic dimension of The Romance of the Rose or of Guillaume de Dole. In the fifth scene, the narrator (Jouglet) reads the text aloud while manuscript illuminations illustrate the romance account of a great tournament at St. Trond and instrumental music creates the appropriate ambiance of sound.

About the work:
The Romance of the Rose or of Guillaume de Dole is a verse romance in octosyllabic rhymed couplets, composed by Jean Renart in northern France early in the 13th century. This is apparently the first romance into which songs were inserted. These songs, representing some thirty-five lyric genres, are represented as sung by the minstrel Jouglet and by various characters. The romance itself recounts the love from afar of the Emperor Conrad for Lienor and his desire to marry her; it also tells of his friendship for her brother, Guillaume. False accusations by the evil seneschal (a high court official) threaten Lienor’s marriage to the Emperor, but she cleverly foils the seneschal, regains her honor, and contrives her wedding and a happy ending.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and https://www.vape-o-rama.com/ ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

About the edition/translation:
Text translated and abridged by Switten. Original: Le roman de la Rose ou de Guillaume de Dole, ed. Félix Lecoy, Paris, Champion, 1966. See also the dual-language (Old French/English) edition, Le roman de la rose ou de Guillaume de Dole/The Romance of the Rose or of Guillaume de Dole, ed./trans. Regina Psaki, New York, Garland, 1995.

About the performer/ensemble:
The Folger Consort, based in Washington DC and associated with the Folger Library, is a chamber music ensemble which plays music from the 12th to the 18th century; the instrumentalists are often joined by guest singers. The performers were (1993) and remain (2004) professional actors and singers who perform widely, often with ensembles such as the Folger Consort and Hesperus. Their updated bios are available online.

About the production:
This multi-scene clip is drawn from “Teaching Medieval Romance through Video Performance,” a project supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and Mount Holyoke College. Project directors were Margaret Switten and Robert Eisenstein; stage direction was by Michael Tolaydo. Production: Sheffield Audio-Video Productions, 1993; Robert Bender, video producer. A copy of this video is available at the Avery Fisher Center in Bobst Library at New York University.

Rose: Mimed images on garden wall

About the scene and clip:
This scene comes from the opening passage of The Romance of the Rose by Guillaume de Lorris. The Narrator–the “Dreamer”–describes the images that he saw painted on the outer wall of the Garden of Pleasure, or “Verger de Déduit”: these negative figures–Hate, Felony, Villainy, Covetousness, Avarice, Envy, Sorrow, Old Age, Pope Holy, and Poverty–are excluded from the garden of love. This performance combines a single reader with three actors who mime the allegorical figures.

About the work:
The Romance of the Rose is arguably the most influential French work of the Middle Ages. This work is a romance, composed in verse and treating of love. But it is a highly unusual romance in many regards.The Rose introduced into romance a set of major allegorical figures such as Love, Reason, and Danger; it established the popularity of the dream vision; and it launched a new fashion in pseudo-autobiographical narrative. The first 4000 lines (in octosyllabic rhymed couplets) were written by Guillaume de Lorris around 1230. This strongly lyrical part of the romance emphasizes the beauty of the Garden of Love, and the suffering by the Lover in his quest for love; Guillaume’s romance was left unfinished. Around 1280, Jean de Meun completed the work by adding close to 18,000 lines; his lengthy and learned text features speeches delivered by such characters as Reason, the Jealous Husband, the Old Woman, Nature, and Genius.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

Allegory is a way of composing and of interpreting texts: characters and the plot point beyond themselves to something “other”—something symbolic. Characters are often personifications of forces such as Love, Pride, Reason, or Friendship. The plot is also symbolic: characters’ struggles are between vices and virtues; their journey may refer to life’s pilgrimage or to the discovery of some great truth, such as the nature of love. Works may be entirely allegorical, or may just contain brief passages written in this mode. Allegorical works are often strongly religious, philosophical, or moral.

About the edition/translation:
Performance abridged from of The Romance of the Rose, Harry W. Robbins trans., New York, Dutton, 1962, pp. 5-12/ ll. 129-520; French edition: Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, Le Roman de la Rose, ed./[Modern French] trans. Armand Strubel, Paris, Lettres Gothiques, 1992.

About the performer/ensemble:
Amanda Espinosa is a Spanish major in the College of Arts and Science at New York University (2002). Erin Huiett is a Drama major at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2002). Rebeca Jefferson is an English major in the College of Arts and Science at New York University (2002).

About the production:
This clip was filmed at the Maison Française of New York University in the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. E.B. Vitz in fall 2002.