Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Rex quondam: Arthurian tradition and the anterior order
- 2 Safely through the realm: customs in Le Chevalier de la charrete
- 3 Tenir terre: customs in Le Chevalier au lion
- 4 Rexque futurus: the anterior order in Le Conte du graal
- 5 Arthurian intertextuality: crisis and custom
- Conclusion: Literary customs and the socio-historical question
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
4 - Rexque futurus: the anterior order in Le Conte du graal
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 October 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Rex quondam: Arthurian tradition and the anterior order
- 2 Safely through the realm: customs in Le Chevalier de la charrete
- 3 Tenir terre: customs in Le Chevalier au lion
- 4 Rexque futurus: the anterior order in Le Conte du graal
- 5 Arthurian intertextuality: crisis and custom
- Conclusion: Literary customs and the socio-historical question
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Le Roman de Perceval ou le Conte du graal is unique among Chretien's romances in that its conspicuously unfinished state has made the question of unity a matter of concern among scholars. Some have minimized the importance of, or even omitted from consideration, the adventures of Gauvain while focusing on those of Perceval because in certain respects these give the appearance of being more fully accomplished. Yet arguments that the two intrigues lack unity, or even that they were assembled by a later hand, comprise but a small minority as opposed to the many studies that have brought to light a considerable variety of affinities between the two strands. This perception of a single, albeit unfinished, work reflecting one unified project is reinforced by the importance of customs to both sections of the poem. Indeed, among Chrétien's romances in the customal series, Le Conte du graal contains the greatest variety of details pertaining to customs, and these are distributed throughout the adventures of each hero. As in Erec, the Charrete, and Yvain, localized evocations of customs are sometimes integrated into much larger contexts, as amplified fictive explorations of their intrinsic properties and potential. Although Le Conte du graal remained unfinished, it is sufficiently elaborated to permit substantial insights about the customal dimension, as well as extrapolations therefrom concerning the meaningful orientation of the whole.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Arthurian Romances of Chrétien de TroyesOnce and Future Fictions, pp. 82 - 118Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1991