The pious formulae of the Middle English romances
<p>The prayers and oaths of the Middle English verse romances draw upon a range of pious formulae. These stock invocations rehearse key episodes from salvation history. Such formulae are widely viewed as mere line-fillers and they are rarely credited with stylistic influence. Yet the startlin...
| প্রধান লেখক: | , |
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| বিন্যাস: | গবেষণাপত্র |
| ভাষা: | English |
| প্রকাশিত: |
1996
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| বিষয়গুলি: |
| সংক্ষিপ্ত: | <p>The prayers and oaths of the Middle English verse romances draw upon a range of pious formulae. These stock invocations rehearse key episodes from salvation history. Such formulae are widely viewed as mere line-fillers and they are rarely credited with stylistic influence. Yet the startling power of their apposite usage in charged narrative moments prompts further investigation.</p> <p>The thesis aims to demonstrate how the use of pious formulae in the romances is not inevitably mechanical. It comprises a catalogue and stylistic study of such formulae. The catalogue records all examples appearing in a single witness to each of the pre-1500 verse romances. By furnishing information on prosodic context, it offers a reference tool with which to measure the extent of technical determination in the appearance of a formula. The thesis analyses this material and advances claims for the aesthetic value of pious formulae.</p> <p>Chapter 1 reviews the evidence of the catalogue. It is shown how pious formulae embody an impressive range of devotional imagery.</p> <p>Chapter 2 illustrates that cognate formulae are widely employed in Middle English religious literature. It is shown how therein they exhibit a theological significance and a stylistic saliency.</p> <p>Chapter 3 shows how intermittent reflections of this serious stylistic usage are apparent in the pious romance, <em>Guy of Warwick</em>.</p> <p>Chapters 4 and 5 show how the affective resonance of such formulae is consistently exploited in the Stanzaic <em>Morte Arthur</em> and <em>William of Palerne</em> respectively.</p> <p>Chapter 6 provides a brief summary. It concludes that the pious formulae of the romances can convey a strong aesthetic charge. They serve as more than mere line-fillers.</p> <p>Three appendices are included. Appendix A explores the relation between pious formulae and medieval profane oaths. Appendix B lists the variant readings of the formulae of four romances. Appendix C comprises the catalogue.</p> |
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