Category Archives: Classroom Setting

Rose: Dance in Garden; God of Love wounds young man

Posted on by

About the scene and clip:
Two performers dance and act out scenes from the work: the dance in the garden, and the God of Love’s attack on the young man. They perform with a light and rather comic touch, drawing on a variety of costume elements and props, and using recorded music.

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. 26ff; French edition: Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, Le Roman de la Rose, ed./[Modern French] trans. Armand Strubel, Paris, Lettres Gothiques, 1992, ll. 1276ff.

About the performer/ensemble:
Tim Hughes and Kate Rediger are Drama students in the CAP 21 Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2006).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz, in fall 2006. Nitzan Rotschild was the videographer.

Disciplina: Little bird

Posted on by

About the scene and clip:
The solo performer reads aloud the story of a little bird—a puppet is the bird—and a peasant.

About the work:
This tale comes from the Disciplina clericalis, a collection of tales by a 12th-century Spanish writer, Pedro Alfonso (or Petrus Alphonsus); like many stories in the volume, it is close to the fable tradition since its purpose is to teach wisdom and make fun of foolishness. Recourse to the animal world—here, the wise little bird—also draws it close to the fable tradition. Many medieval versions of this story exist in French and other vernaculars.

About the genre:
Despite the title “lay,” which is sometimes given to it, this story is part of the tale and fable traditions; this sort of story is also called in Latin an “exemplum” because it teaches by example.

This story belongs to the tale tradition. 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’sMetamorphoses, 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.”

A fable is a short tale, frequently featuring animals; most fables have a clear moral point, often stated explicitly at the beginning or end. Medieval European fables generally draw heavily on those of Aesop, who in turn was influenced by Indian and other Eastern fables and moral tales.

About the edition/translation:
The Scholar’s Guide: A Translation of the Twelfth-Century Disciplina Clericalis of Pedro Alfonso, tr. Joseph Ramon Jones and John Eston Keller, Toronto, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1969, pp. 86-7. Original: Petri Alfonsi Disciplina Clericalis, I. Lateinische Text, ed. Alfons Hilka and Werner Söderhjelm, in Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicæ 38/4, Helsinfors, 1911.

About the performer/ensemble:
Tiffany Brown is a Drama student in the Stella Adler Studio of Acting at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2006).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie ( E.B.) Vitz at New York University in fall 2006.

Beowulf: In off the moors comes Grendel

Posted on by

About the scene and clip:
The solo performer acts out the terrifying quality of Grendel’s arrival in the hall.

About the work:
Beowulf, an Old English epic that was written down in the early 11th century, may actually date from as early as the 7th century, and is one of the great surviving medieval epics. While we cannot know who “created” the written version, it is clear that the text has its roots in an older oral tradition of epic storytelling. This type of Germanic verse is recognizable by the structural unity of its unrhymed alliterative lines, each line containing four stressed syllables.

It tells of the mighty struggles between the legendary hero Beowulf and three great supernatural monsters: first Grendel, then Grendel’s mother, and finally the Dragon. This song also sings of Beowulf’s great leadership and loyalty and of the virtues for which he was famed.

About the genre:
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:
Beowulf (Bilingual Edition), trans. Seamus Heaney, New York, W.W. Norton, 2000, pp. 49ff.

About the performer/ensemble:
Joy Zagarra is a Drama student at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2009).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz in spring 2009. It was videoed in the classroom by a fellow student.

Beowulf: The grim demon arrives

Posted on by

About the scene and clip:
The solo performer, making a dramatic entry and effective use of darkness, acts out Grendel’s murderous entry into the mead hall.

About the work:
Beowulf, an Old English epic that was written down in the early 11th century, may actually date from as early as the 7th century, and is one of the great surviving medieval epics. While we cannot know who “created” the written version, it is clear that the text has its roots in an older oral tradition of epic storytelling. This type of Germanic verse is recognizable by the structural unity of its unrhymed alliterative lines, each line containing four stressed syllables.

It tells of the mighty struggles between the legendary hero Beowulf and three great supernatural monsters: first Grendel, then Grendel’s mother, and finally the Dragon. This song also sings of Beowulf’s great leadership and loyalty and of the virtues for which he was famed.

About the genre:
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:
Beowulf (Bilingual Edition), trans. Seamus Heaney, New York, W.W. Norton, 2000, pp. 9ff.

About the performer/ensemble:
José Pérez IV is a Drama student in the Experimental Theatre Wing at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2009).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz in spring 2009. It was videoed in the classroom by a fellow student.

Beowulf: Grendel comes

Posted on by

About the scene and clip:
The solo performer tells how Grendel comes in off the moors to kill the sleeping warriors; recorded music accompanies the performance.

About the work:
Beowulf, an Old English epic that was written down in the early 11th century, may actually date from as early as the 7th century, and is one of the great surviving medieval epics. While we cannot know who “created” the written version, it is clear that the text has its roots in an older oral tradition of epic storytelling. This type of Germanic verse is recognizable by the structural unity of its unrhymed alliterative lines, each line containing four stressed syllables.

It tells of the mighty struggles between the legendary hero Beowulf and three great supernatural monsters: first Grendel, then Grendel’s mother, and finally the Dragon. This song also sings of Beowulf’s great leadership and loyalty and of the virtues for which he was famed.

About the genre:
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:
Beowulf (Bilingual Edition), trans. Seamus Heaney, New York, W.W. Norton, 2000, pp. 49ff.

About the performer/ensemble:
Jen Messina is a Drama student in the Atlantic Acting School at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2008).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz in spring 2008; it was videoed in the classroom.

Beowulf: Dragon awakes

Posted on by

About the scene and clip:
The solo performer tells how the dragon awakes and destroys the terrified town; he uses aluminum pans to produce alarming sounds, and a cardboard town and cigarette lighter to suggest the burning of the town.

About the work:
Beowulf, an Old English epic that was written down in the early 11th century, may actually date from as early as the 7th century, and is one of the great surviving medieval epics. While we cannot know who “created” the written version, it is clear that the text has its roots in an older oral tradition of epic storytelling. This type of Germanic verse is recognizable by the structural unity of its unrhymed alliterative lines, each line containing four stressed syllables.

It tells of the mighty struggles between the legendary hero Beowulf and three great supernatural monsters: first Grendel, then Grendel’s mother, and finally the Dragon. This song also sings of Beowulf’s great leadership and loyalty and of the virtues for which he was famed.

About the genre:
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:
Beowulf (Bilingual Edition), trans. Seamus Heaney, New York, W.W. Norton, 2000, pp. 155ff.

About the performer/ensemble:
Michael Abourizk is a student in Dramatic Literature and Theatre History, with a minor in French, in the College of Arts and Science at New York University (2008).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz in spring 2008. Various students served as videographers.

Beowulf: Death of Beowulf and the dragon

Posted on by

About the scene and clip:
The performer tells of the sorrow of Wiglif over the death of his friend Beowulf, and tells of the dragon’s death. The storyteller’s performance, in a largely darkened room, is accompanied by recorded music by Sequentia.

About the work:
Beowulf, an Old English epic that was written down in the early 11th century, may actually date from as early as the 7th century, and is one of the great surviving medieval epics. While we cannot know who “created” the written version, it is clear that the text has its roots in an older oral tradition of epic storytelling. This type of Germanic verse is recognizable by the structural unity of its unrhymed alliterative lines, each line containing four stressed syllables.

It tells of the mighty struggles between the legendary hero Beowulf and three great supernatural monsters: first Grendel, then Grendel’s mother, and finally the Dragon. This song also sings of Beowulf’s great leadership and loyalty and of the virtues for which he was famed.

About the genre:
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:
Beowulf (Bilingual Edition), trans. Seamus Heaney, New York, W.W. Norton, 2000, pp. 191ff.

About the performer/ensemble:
Kevin Metzger is a Drama student in the CAP 21 Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2008).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz in spring 2008; it was videoed in the classroom.

Beowulf: Beowulf hunts Grendel’s mother

Posted on by

About the scene and clip:
The solo performer tells how Beowulf seeks out Grendel’s deadly water-monster mother, who kills to avenge Grendel’s death. The performer makes use of recorded sound effects of water, and of lighting effects.

About the work:
Beowulf, an Old English epic that was written down in the early 11th century, may actually date from as early as the 7th century, and is one of the great surviving medieval epics. While we cannot know who “created” the written version, it is clear that the text has its roots in an older oral tradition of epic storytelling. This type of Germanic verse is recognizable by the structural unity of its unrhymed alliterative lines, each line containing four stressed syllables.

It tells of the mighty struggles between the legendary hero Beowulf and three great supernatural monsters: first Grendel, then Grendel’s mother, and finally the Dragon. This song also sings of Beowulf’s great leadership and loyalty and of the virtues for which he was famed.

About the genre:
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:
Beowulf (Bilingual Edition), trans. Seamus Heaney, New York, W.W. Norton, 2000, pp. 99ff.

About the performer/ensemble:
Chris Chianesi is a Drama student in the CAP 21 Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2008).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz in spring 2008; it was videoed in the classroom.

Aucassin: Aucassin and Nicolette together again

Posted on by

About the scene and clip:
The solo performer reads aloud from one of the closing scenes of the story.

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 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:
Aucassin & Nicolette, A Chantefable from the Twelfth-Century Minstrels: A Facing-Page Translation, trans. Jean-Jacques Jura, Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 2007.

About the performer/ensemble:
Bailey Carr is a Drama student in the Playwrights Horizons Theater School at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2010).

About the production:
This scene was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught at New York University by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz, in spring 2010. It was filmed by Nitzan Rotschild.

Samson and Delilah

Posted on by

About the scene and clip:
Three performers sing an abridged version of the whole song about Samson and Delilah. One student (Hyeji) plays the melody on the violin, while the two other students sing the song in Latin, taking the various parts. Though reading the words and melody, they also act out the scene to the degree possible, using a scarf and a classroom chair as props.

About the work:
This famous Latin song, preserved in several medieval manuscripts, tells the Bible story of Samson and Delilah (Judges chapter 16 of the Old Testament). The song begins with the chorus’s lament over the humiliation and imprisonment of the great warrior Samson by the Philistines, and the paradox of the conquered conqueror. Samson then tells the story of his love for Delilah: how he had loved the beautiful Philistine maiden, and how she betrayed his love, getting him to tell her the secret of his great strength, which was his long hair. Delilah speaks twice: first we hear her persuade him to tell her his secret; later she mockingly calls the Philistines to cut off his hair and capture him. Samson then tells how—when his hair was again grown long and he had recovered his strength—he was able to avenge himself on his enemies by pulling the great building down on top of them all. The song ends with the chorus’s praise of Samson: “Samson sit in gloria” (“may Samson be glorified”).

About the genre:
The Medieval Latin song “Samson dux fortissime” can be understood and classified in several ways. It is a lament, or “planctus,” in honor of Samson. It is also a “lai” (but of a type different from the narrative lais by Marie de France); a musical “lai” is a lengthy song in which each pair of stanzas has a distinctive poetic structure, different from the other pairs: thus, such features as melodic shape, line lengths and rhyme patterns, and the number of lines in the stanza typically differ from pair to pair. “Samson dux fortissime” can also be seen as a sort of biblical “ballad”: a song that tells a story.

About the edition/translation:
This famous medieval Latin song has often been edited; one edition is The Oxford Book of Medieval Latin Verse, ed. F.J.E. Raby, Oxford, Clarendon, 1959, “The Lament of Samson,” pp. 428-433. An edition of the Latin song with an English translation by Peter Dronke is also available in the booklet that accompanies the CD “Visions from the Book” by Sequentia; this CD provides a beautiful recording of the entire song.

About the performer/ensemble:
Kim Kass is a Drama student in the CAP21 Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2007). Hyeji Lim has studied violin for many years, and is beginning a Music major in the College of Arts and Science at New York University (2007). Nick Spangler is a Drama student in the CAP21 Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2007).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Medieval Song,” an undergraduate course taught by Profs. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz and Edward Roesner at New York University in spring 2007. The performance took place in the classroom. Chris Looram did the videography.