King Robert of Sicily: Analogues and Origins
| Autor: | Lillian Herlands Hornstein |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 1964 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | PMLA/Publications of the Modern Language Association of America. 79:13-21 |
| ISSN: | 1938-1530 0030-8129 |
| DOI: | 10.2307/460962 |
| Popis: | The middle english poem King Robert of Sicily (King Roberd of Cisyle) is at one and the same time a metrical romance and an exemplum on the theme that the proud and mighty are brought low. The pious tale relates how a king, arrogant and boastful, is displaced from his throne by an Angel-usurper until the debased and beggared king learns proper humility. The story was widely known in the Middle Ages, both in Latin and in the vernacular tongues. Curiously enough, the poem has aroused almost no interest among English scholars, although the medieval English version achieved a well-merited popularity in its own day. It is indeed an affecting and carefully wrought narrative, sensitive to the tragic ironies of the pious “reversal.” Further study of this poem and its close analogues reveals the superiority of the English version; and its skillful synthesis of themes from folklore, Biblical commentary, and history not only encompasses a discriminating artistry, but provides fresh evidence of the process by which Biblical exegesis was transmuted into legend and into romance. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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