Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM


Top Flashcards (Certified)
All Flashcards

Medieval > Romances > Flashcards

Romances Flashcards

(69 cards)

Start Studying
1
Q

Launfal: What is the traditional association of the phrase “he rood toward the west”?

A

Traditionally mysterious, occult, magic.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What happens when the paradise offered by the fairy lady is investigated or revealed? (Lee C. Ramsey)

A

“The paradise offered by the fairy lady is a dream world, a land of the imagination, and attempts to investigate it or to make it known to others result in its loss.”

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What does the bed in the pavyloun look like?

A

“In the pavyloun he fond a bed of prys/ Y-heled with purpur bys” – wealth and faery world.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Describe Launfal’s transformation in clothing and armour.

A

“yn purpure gan ham schrede” TO “Hys armur, that was whyt as flour,/ Hyt become of blak colour”.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

How does France’s ‘Lanval’ compare to Chestres in terms of wealth?

A

Less material magic: In Launfal: “I wyll the yeve an alner /Y-mad of sylk and of gold cler, /Wyth fayre ymages thre” – silk purse of gold.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What does Launfal plead to other knights about his poverty?

A

Telleth no man of my poverté/ for the love of God almyght”.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What does Saunders say about the enchantress?

A

She “shapes, mis-shapes and transforms human lives, sometimes promoting but most often challenging the social order that romance tends to uphold”.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

How does Dame Tryamour contrast with courtly expectations?

A

“I wot thy stat, ord and ende / Be naught aschamed of me”

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What is Dame Tryamour’s condition to make Launfal rich?

A

Yf thou whylt truly to me take - / And alle wemen for me forsake

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What does the boy in the market say about Gyfre?

A

“Nys he but a wrecche; / What thar any man of hym recche”.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What happens in the fight against Sir V?

A

Helmet and shield falls; Gyfre returns, and he smotes him 3rd time.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

How does Chestre describe Launfal killing all the hostile lords of Atyle?

A

“As lyght as dew he leyde hem doune”.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What does Guinevere accuse Launfal of, and what is his reply?

A

Questions his manhood - has never loved a woman. Launfal replies:
“I have loved a fayryr woman/ Than thou ever leydest thyn ey upon”.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What happens to Launfal’s wealth after he loses love - hieghtens the fragility of the romance genre?

A

“All that he hadde before y-wonne, / Hyt malt as snow agens the sunne/ (In romance as we rede)”.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What does Guinevere say if Launfal brings a fairer woman?

A

Put out my eeyn gray

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

How are the Queen and her ladies described compared to the Dame Tryamour ?

A

“As ys the mone ayen the sonne”.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What does Sir T do for the elf queene?

A

Forsakes all women.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

How is the fairy lady introduced in Launfal?

A

“lay sche uncovert”.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What does John Berger say about the naked lady?

A

“She turns herself into an object—and most particularly an object of vision: a sight.”

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

How does Chestre differ from Sir Landevale?

A

Chestre removes atmosphere of mystery surrounding fairy lady.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Where does Launfal end up geographically? (VS Landevale)

A

Island of Oléron off Breton coast VS mysterious Isle of Avalon

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

How does the Wife of Bath undermine the chivalric code?

A

Access to ‘gentillesse’ is from God, praises poverty (like jesus), and ugliness - the knight tolerates and surrenders alleigance to the round table

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What does Launfal’s horse falling in the fen contrast with?

A

Tryamour’s “stede lel”.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

What does A.C. Spearing say Chestre adds?

A

Tournament scene to ‘epicise’ Launfal’s role.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
How does tail-rhyme stanza describe Sir T’s virtues?
Ironises through repetition of knightly virtue
26
What does Wace translate from Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae?
“It’s for love and for lovers that knights do knightly deeds.”
27
What does Laura Ashe say about the romance hero?
The turn is toward the individual protagonist and his inner life’
28
How does the author of Gawain test romance tradition?
Tests romance tradition the same way the lady tests knight’s chivalry – blurs internal and external worlds.
29
What type of chivalric genre is Gawain (as opposed to Troilus and Piers)
G = moral T = romantic Piers = spiritual
30
What alliterative verse does Gawain use?
uncourtly
31
What adjectives in Gawain are associated with courtesy and quality?
gentyl, noble, hende, cortays, mensle, quoynt, daynte
32
What does “Hony soyt qui mal pence” mean and imply? (the motto of the Order of the Garter)
'shamed be anyone who thinks ill of it' reader joins example of knights – shared humanity – not contempt.
33
How does the narrator of Gawain ignore the expected combats and love affairs of a romance?
‘Hit were to tor for to telle of the tenthe dole’
34
How many adventures does Gawain include?
3 - only discuss one of them and even that is passed over: ‘Mony aunteres here-biforne/ Haf fallensuch ere this’
35
How is Gawain self-aware in literary tradition?
Appears in early Welsh, English, and French Arthurian tales (e.g., Culhwch and Olwen, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Chrétien de Troyes A character who is palced in tests of virtue, contradictions
36
How is Gawain presented in French romances,
Gawain can be portrayed as flawed—even lustful or rash (especially post-Chrétien).
37
In English tradition, how is Gawain presented?
especially SGGK, he is largely redeemed as the ideal knight, tested but fundamentally honourable.
38
How is Gawain presented in Earlier Celtic versions (like Peredur or Welsh triads)
portray him with magical and heroic traits—sometimes even superhuman.
39
In which text are Bertilak's hunts presented as more Manly, physical challenges
Ipomedon Anglo-Norman romance by Rotelande
40
What does the fox hunt signify?
Fox = small, pest.
41
What does the boar hunt signify?
black game, courage, host is in single combat
42
What does the deer hunt represent?
red game, higher numbers
43
What is the castle described as?
“Þat pared out of papure purely hit semed.”
44
What does “wener then Wenore” imply?
Wordplay: “wener” (more lovely), “Wenore” (Guinevere).
45
How is Guinevere framed as a prize for a knight
graythed inthe myddes
46
What does the lady represent in Gawain?
courtesy not love
47
What does the host represent in Gawain?
truth
48
What does the pentangle symbolise?
Truth - 25 elements of ethics and aesthetics entwined
49
How does Gawain mirror the pentangle he wears?
As tulk of tale most true, / And gentylest knight of lote
50
What does the poet say about love-talking in reference to Gawain?
He that may him hear shall learn of love-talking
51
How does Gawain sit framed between teh two ladies?
“Bitwene two so dyngne dame,/ The alder and the yonge,/ Much solace set thay same.”
52
What adjectives describe lady’s entrance?
“sleyly” “derenly” “stille” “lystily” “stol”.
53
What metaphors describes Gawain’s temptation?
military: “Now are ye tan as tite! bot true us may schape,/ schal bynde yow in your bedde, that be ye ful trayst”.
54
What contrast is shown between hunt and bedroom?
“The lede with the ladies layked all day; /Bot the lord over the londes launced ful ofte”.
55
What seasonal and visual contrast is made between the inner and outer worlds?
“Ferly fayre was the folde, for the forst clenged... VS ...Withinne the comly cortynes, on the colde morne.”
56
How does Gawain’s fear reduce sin?
Bot for ye loved your lif - the lasse I yow blame."
57
How does Aquinas 'Summa Theologica' support Gawain's love of life?
natural for man to love life and sin is diminished if fear is motivating factor
58
What is Bertilak's role as priest after the blow?
“Thou art confessed so clene, beknowen of thy mysses/ And has the penaunce apert of point of myn egge.”
59
What does the girdle symbolize?
“Bot in syngne of my surfet” – sign of sin “luf lace”.
60
What is ‘surfet’ usually associated with, and how does Gawain reinterpret it?
Usually over-indulgence in eating; Gawain sees it as weakness of ‘flesch’ (usually associated with sins of flesh like gluttony, lust and sloth)
61
Why is Gawain so severe in his sel-analysis?
his choice of physical life over moral truth represented a commitment to the body rather than soul
62
What genre and language are referenced in Gawain’s ending?
“As hit is breued in þe best boke of romaunce.” – narrative genre and vernacular (French).
63
What are Helen Cooper’s three-part romance structure?
1. Opening disruption 2. Period of trial/suffering/death 3. Final symbolic resurrection and better restoration.
64
What does Helen Cooper (seminal) describe as a significant part of romances setting?
'far away and long ago'
65
What is Frye’s (seminal) idea of romance called?
“Secular scripture”.
66
What is the significance of romances being written in the vernacular
As opposed to the latin, academic, clerical language - romances were open to everyone in the secular world to learn from
67
What is C.S. Lewis’s The Allegory of Love (1936) known for in the study of medieval romance?
It is one of the first comprehensive studies on medieval romance and courtly love, defining medieval romance as distinct from classical romance, focusing on idealized love and chivalry, and exploring the development of courtly love as a literary and cultural phenomenon.
68
What are the key contributions of Helen Cooper’s The English Romance in Time (2004) to the study of medieval romance?
It is a modern and influential study tracing the evolution of English romance motifs over centuries, introduces the idea of romance motifs as cultural “memes” that adapt and transform, and highlights romance’s dynamic role in reflecting and shaping societal values.
69
What are the main ideas Northrop Frye presents about medieval romance in Anatomy of Criticism (1957)?
Frye introduced archetypal criticism, viewing medieval romance as a form of myth or secular scripture, emphasized symbolic and ritualistic patterns in romance narratives like quests, heroes, and trials, and laid the groundwork for understanding romance as part of a broader mythic and cultural structure.

Medieval (2 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions