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.

Knights, Clerks and Churls

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.

Inferno, canto VIII: Dante meets Francesca

About the scene and clip:
This clip recounts canto V of the Inferno. In this scene, Dante, the pilgrim, enters the fifth circle of Hell where those who were ruled in life by their passions are punished. He meets Francesca da Rimini who tells him of her adulterous affair. The performer tells the story, also impersonating the various characters; a book is used as a prop.

About the work:
The Divine Comedy (1315-1320) is one of the greatest works of the Middle Ages. In this three part work, composed in cantos of terza rima, Dante tells of a spiritual pilgrimage through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. Beatrice, whom Dante had known and loved in his youth and who is now in heaven, has been enabled through divine grace to send Virgil to be his guide for much of the way. Throughout the Commedia Dante’s deep learning is visible, along with his interest in Italian and Church history and politics, theological issues, poetry and poetics, and scientific thought. In the Inferno, the pilgrim descends through the concentric circles of Hell in which different types of sinners receive the eternal punishment appropriate to their sins. The Pilgrim speaks with many whom he meets on his way.

About the genre:
The Divine Comedy is a unique work but it is also, in some respects, an epic (see paragraph below). It belongs as well to a long tradition of narrative journeys to the other world, written at first in Latin and then in the various vernaculars.

The epic is an ancient genre and is found in almost every culture. It is a long heroic narrative which tells of war and great deeds. Epics are generally composed in verse, and sung from memory or improvised in performance by professional performers with instrumental accompaniment. These narratives are created from traditional elements, commonly without recourse to writing, by poets whose names are often unknown to us. Among the famous traditional epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer; the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf; and the Old French Song of Roland. Many known poets adopt epic forms and themes for their literary verse (such as Virgil in his Aeneid).

About the edition/translation:
The Divine Comedy, trans. C.H. Sisson, Manchester, Carcanet New Press, 1980. There are many editions of the original Italian.

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

About the production:
This scene is one of a series created under the direction of Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz in fall 2003. This clip comes from a performance that took place at Gluckman Ireland House at New York University for the Medieval and Renaissance Program’s Holiday party in December 2003. The performance was videoed by NYU-TV.

Metamorphoses: Narcissus

About the scene and clip:
This clip is drawn from the story of Narcissus who, having refused to love in return any of the young nymphs who loved him, was cursed by Echo to love in vain. Seeing his reflection in the mirror, he fell in love with himself and died of despair, becoming a flower (the narcissus) in death. The performer has drawn on the use of a mirror and video-recording as props to suggest Narcissus’ self-infatuation.

About the work:
The story of Narcissus is told in Book III of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a collection of tales of love and other human passions, in which men and women are transformed–“metamorphosed”–into animals, birds, and plants, and live on in these new forms. Some scholars argue that the Metamorphoses is an epic.

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.”

The epic is an ancient genre and is found in almost every culture. It is a long heroic narrative which tells of war and great deeds. Epics are generally composed in verse, and sung from memory or improvised in performance by professional performers with instrumental accompaniment. These narratives are created from traditional elements, commonly without recourse to writing, by poets whose names are often unknown to us. Among the famous traditional epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer; the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf; and the Old French Song of Roland. Many known poets adopt epic forms and themes for their literary verse (such as Virgil in his Aeneid).

About the edition/translation:
Adapted from The Metamorphoses of Ovid, trans. A.E. Watts, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1954, Book III, pp.61ff. Original: Ovid, Metamorphoses, ed./trans. Frank Justus Miller, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press (Loeb Classical Library), 1976-1977, 2 vols.

About the performer/ensemble:
Adam Jones is a Drama student in the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2003).

About the production:
This scene was part of a volunteer project on performing Ovid’s Metamorphoses with Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz in fall 2003. This performance 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.

Aucassin: Torelore

About the scene and clip:
In this episode, the young lovers Aucassin and Nicolette, having fled from home, travel to the land of Torelore where the King lies in childbed and the Queen fights battles in which no one is slain. The performer draws on a blend of cardboard puppets, illustrations, a book, contemporary recorded music, and a cell phone.

About the work:
Aucassin and Nicolette: This charming work, composed by an anonymous poet around 1200, is the only surviving example of the “chantefable”: it is partly in prose, to be spoken; partly in verse, with assonanced rolex day date m128348rbr 0017 36mm uomini guadare lines of 7-syllables, to be sung. Aucassin and Nicolette reflects a thorough-going familiarity with the genres of the period, such as epic, romance, saint’s life, and lyric song–and a light-hearted parodic attitude toward them all.

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

About the edition/translation:
Abridged from Aucassin and Nicolette and Other Medieval Romances and Tales, trans. Eugene Mason, New York, Dutton, 1958, pp. 30-35. Original text: Aucassin et Nicolette, ed./[Modern French] trans. Jean Dufournet, Paris, Garnier-Flammarion, 1973.

About the performer/ensemble:
Jenn Jordan is an undergraduate student in the College of Arts and Science at New York University, majoring in Medieval and Renaissance Studies (2003).

About the production:
This performance was created as part of an Independent Study with Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz in fall 2003. The clip comes from a performance that took place in November 2003 at the Maison Francaise of New York University at a Roundtable on “New Perspectives on Medieval Narrative,” sponsored by the Colloquium on Orality, Writing and Culture, co-convenors Prof. Nancy Freeman Regalado and Prof. Vitz. The performance was videoed by NYU-TV.