Bharat sir launfal seminar PDF

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Bharat Mohan Bhagwani Hemnani P1

Seminar 4: “SIR LAUNFAL” Questions 1. Would you say this text follows the late 14th century alliterative tradition? To begin with, we must bear in mind what alliterative means. Thus, in prosody or poetry, alliterative verse is a form or style of verse in which the principal ornamental piece is the conspicuous repetition of identical initial sounds in a successive manner or way to help indicate the underlying metrical structure, as opposed to other devices such as rhyme. On the other hand, the poem contains 1,044 lines and a vast quantity of stanzas, and is the best known of several Middle English retellings of Marie de France’s well-known 12thcentury lai of Lanval. Sir Launfal is the only identified production by the poet who calls himself Thomas Chestre, of whom nothing else is known. Based on style and language, Chestre has used a rather unusual and odd type of art in this text for the context which we were in and doesn’t use the conventional and typical device known as alliteration. Hence, he was very peculiar and idiosyncratic when it comes to his one and only known text. 2. Do you hear any possible oral echoes in this author’s style? Personally speaking, I actually do because there are some elements and pieces or excerpts present in the text, as for example, “In the days of brave King Arthur, who ruled England in law and order, there was a wondrous event about which a lay was written; it was called Launfal. Listen to it now”, which resembles or mirrors the introduction given by the scops before starting to sing a poem. 3. The poem is a rendering of a 12th century Breton lay by Marie de France. Does the author, Thomas Chestre, claim any source or rather his own authorship? Is he an omniscient narrator? First and foremost, I personally think that the references to the sources in this text have been condensed extensively and there is no clear mention of own authorship and due to that and the many other features he addresses, we can say that this is not a totally original concept of his. In addition, he attaches or makes changes in the scenes and characters, sometimes working in material from other sources, and makes explicit and concrete many motivations and other aspects of the story which Marie leaves undiscussed. For example, the fairy purse and other gifts, such as the horse Blaunchard and the invisible servant Gyfre, who both depart when he breaks his promise not to boast. Some of these additional elements are derived from an Old French lai of Graelent, itself borrowing from Marie's Lanval. So, it is clearly taken from her sources and a major number of twists and new stuff has been added to it by the author. Moreover, Sir Launfal follows the general plot outline and pattern of Marie’s Lanval, but with some alterations that show the Middle English poem to be less a courtly than a bourgeois entertainment. The tale was popular and was adapted into English as Sir Launfal in the 14th century. In terms of authorship or a narrator’s point of view, the text is told in third person. It is important to know that the main difference between a third person and third person omniscient narrator is that third person is limited to when the story is told from a character's perspective, whilst a story in the third person omniscient is told by a narrator that is external to the story (i.e. not a character). 4. Where and when do these events take place? This is a rather thought-provoking and fascinating question we encounter in this moment because in this story, Arthur is king of England (also referred to as Bretayn) and holds court in Carlisle and Glastonbury, particularly during such summer feasts as Pentecost

Bharat Mohan Bhagwani Hemnani P1 and Trinity Sunday. Therefore, I think that there is ambiguity. Though, we can seemingly or supposedly say that it takes place in Kardevyle, where the opening scene of the story also takes place, can be interpreted as Carlisle, in northern England, where King Arthur holds court in many Middle English romances, such as The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle. But it can also be interpreted as Cardiff, in South Wales, which is King Arthur's residence in Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle and might sit more comfortably with the other locations in Sir Launfal, such as Caerleon and Glastonbury. Moreover, if we referred to Marie de France's poem Lanval, along with other Old French Arthurian works, the city of “Kardoel” is thoroughly mentioned, which, given the confusion, must have sounded, even to a late-Medieval English ear, like a conflation or combination of Carlisle and Cardiff. In Marie's poem, however, the intention seems clearly to be Carlisle, since King Arthur is fighting against the Scots and Pictish incursions or invasions there. Hence, it may be set somewhere between the late 5th and early 6th century. 5. What is this author’s depiction of Guinevere in comparison to her figure in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”? In fact, there is a huge difference because in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” she can be depicted or seen essentially as bit of a player in the poem. Thus, Guinevere, Arthur's queen, functions without a doubt as the epitome and embodiment of feminine courtliness and her entrancing beauty is emphasized. Furthermore, she is an example of medieval misogyny and plays the role of a passive woman, a mere token of Arthur. Perhaps we can see her only as a symbol of the superficiality of courtly society. But, in this particular text or case, Guinevere is represented with an such a grand amount of values which were not proper of the stereotypical poems because she acts with infidelity, perversion, betrayal and has promiscuous temptress and adulteress reputation. She is portrayed as totally the opposite in this text. 6. Is Launfal an ideal knight? What are his flaws and qualities? From my point of view, Launfal is far from being an ideal knight because he breaks his promise with Tryamour and therefore he breaks his word, which is a serious and major violation of the courtly convention. In fact, there is a key moment or situation in which Guinevere propositions the knight during a dance and, when he refuses, she accuses him of loving no woman. As a rebuttal, Launfal responds that the lowliest maid of his lover is more beautiful than Guinevere, thus enraging the queen and breaking his promise to Tryamour. But, on the appointed day, the knight admits that he cannot summon his lover and awaits punishment without even weeping or demanding justice, which also shows us a generous and loyal side of his personality. He was a very generous person and his only flaw might have been that he was too sincere and always spilled out the truth or the correct way of seeing things in life. 7. What does Tryamour demand of him? In short, the story goes somewhat like this: The mayor holds a great feast on Trinity Sunday, but Launfal is not invited. His lack of decent clothes prevents him from going to church, but he borrows a saddle and bridle from the mayor’s daughter. Despite mockery from the citizens, he rides to a forest and lies down to rest. There he is greeted by two beautiful maidens on behalf of their mistress Tryamour, daughter of the fairy king. He follows them to a rich pavilion, where the dazzlingly beautiful half-clothed fairy declares her love for him and offers him magical gifts, a horse and a squire. He accepts, they dine and go to bed. In the following morning, she warns him to keep their love a secret, if he boasts about her, he will lose her, her love and all his riches. In other words, he can’t tell this secret to others because that will cause him the loss of love.

Bharat Mohan Bhagwani Hemnani P1

8. Are the characters in this story interested in honour or else in material issues? There is no doubt in that they are only interested in material issues and the tangible instead of the intangible, which may sound a bit familiar because this is an allegory to our actual society in which capitalism is thriving and people are way more driven towards the sense of buying items and objects instead of humane feelings and qualities. For instance, at the wedding feast, the new queen gives rich gifts to all the knights except Launfal and due to not receiving these, he makes his excuses and leaves the court, taking Arthur’s two nephews with him. But, Launfal falls into debt and his companions or partners, tired of living in poverty, return to court leaving him alone without taking into account his sense of chivalry, friendship or strong feelings towards them. Or when the mayor holds a great feast on Trinity Sunday, but Launfal is not invited because he lacks decent clothes, which prevents him from going to church. The turning point is whenLaunfal returns to Caerleon. He snubs the hypocritical mayor, then pays off his debts, holds rich feasts and helps the poor, while his lover visits him nightly. He wins a tournament held in his honour and travels to Lombardy to defeat the fearsome Sir Valentine. King Arthur hears all the stories about his wealth, richness and victories and seeing his success, he once again invites him to a feast, reinstating him as steward. In this society, we always judge a person by their status, income and social class, something which is depicted in this text too....