Courtly Love A Manual On How Knights Should Act
Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
Calling all Lords and Ladies from the Duchy of DAUS!
Come one and come all and join this knightly quest. Come and instruct your fellow lords and ladies about chivalry and courtly behavior! Your quest, should you choose to accept it, is to compose a manual of chivalry that will inspire future knights, lords and ladies!
Please complete your manual by 12:30 PM EST on 8 December 2020!
Your chivalric manual should be based upon the trials, tribulations and triumphs of Yvain as told by Chrétien de Troyes. Your manual should be focused on one
of the topics below. Be sure your manual is at least four pages in length (typed and double-spaced with adequate margins).
You should compose your manual of chivalry for a courtly audience. The
instructions need to be written very clearly, and include discussions of specific
incidents from the text. Please avoid spelling errors and infelicitous grammatical
expressions, otherwise the lords and ladies of the court will hiss and boo. Be sure to analyze the story and not just retell the tale. Finally, please avoid such tired clichés as “code of chivalry,” and “courtly love,” unless you wish to critique them.
You can write your assignment as a formal essay, or in the form of a manual. In either case you should have a clearly stated theme that you are supporting with evidence from the text. Each manual should discuss at least two passages (brief) from the story. But be sure to explain the passages in your own words.
You may choose one of the following topics for your quest.
1. Choose one of the major male or female characters in Yvain and use their story to create a manual on how a knight or lady should act or behave. Examine the social position of the character, the situation they find themselves in, and the choices they make along with the consequences.
For example, What is the nature of Yvain’s quest? Why does he go on a quest and what is he seeking? What are the challenges that he faces, and how does he handle them?
How successful is his quest? Did Yvain change as a result of his quest? What does his quest tell us about the nature of knighthood?
Figures might include: Yvain, Gauvin (Gawaint), Laudine, Lunette. If you wish to write about a different character you must check with your instructor first!
You can also write your manual by focusing on the following questions.
2. Write a manual for courtly women. What types of women appear in the story? What roles do women play in the story? What traits are associated with women? What are the challenges faced by Laudine? How would you characterize her relationship to Yvain? You could ask the same of Lunette.
3. Write about King Arthur, Guinevere and the Arthurian court. What are the ideals of the court? Do all of the members of the court uphold these ideals? Why do you think that most of the action takes place outside of the court? In what ways does the story offer a critique of Arthurian values?
3. Compare and contrast Yvain and Gawain. What knightly traits do they share? In what ways do they differ? Which one do you think is the greatest knight and why? Which is the best knight to use as an example in a manual of chivalry and why?
You must complete your manual of chivalry by 8 December 2020 or you will miss out on King Arthur’s Christmas banquet!