Epic
to Romance in British Literature: Role of Kingship and the Feminine
(Notes
prepared from Paul Poplawski's English Literature in Context)
Epic is otherwise known as heroic poetry in Old English terminology. Strict definition of heroic poetry says it ended in 1066 with the battle of Hastings. But a loose definition of epic poetry says they are long narrative celebration of military ethos and courageous individuals who risk life and limb for honour of themselves or of others. This longer, loose definition of epic fits well for Middle English Romantic poetry as well. The only difference would be that the scene shifts from chivalry on the battle field to the internal, private, psychological arena. This way Romance is a continuation of OE heroic poetry or they both are similar. But for some they are separate and different. Romance comes from the Old French romans which meant a story told in French. Therefore, the initial difference was in language, not in structure, theme, etc.
Beowulf
is considered the best epic poem. Many OE poems are hybrids with
religious or elegiac elements in them. They would be short as well
sometimes. These examples outside the definition indicate problems
and limitations of self contained genres. Over centuries when times
change along with language, we have evidences of OE stories changing
genre to become Romantic poems during ME.
For
Normans and Anglo Saxons heroic poetry was a living tradition. They
lived their lives fighting and singing those poems. Warriors dreamt
of becoming the characters they celebrated in their songs. They felt
they were also making history and songs by being brave in the face of
odds.
Place
of Women in Epics and Romance
Without
elaborating if one wants an answer, this is it: there was no place
for women in epics. Heroic poetry was deeply masculinated. The nature
of activities described in there excludes women. Comitatus
of Tacitus talks about the retinue for fighting elite. There was
shared accommodation for them where they delighted in each others'
company- all male fighters. If one is an outstanding fighter and
proves his mettle, he will be awarded land, home, estate and
facilitated marriage. Even after becoming rich and settled such would
continue to serve the king whenever the king needs them on a retainer
basis. These elite fighters also had their own gang of fighters to
keep. All male companies!
Women
bore children and brought them up. Nothing else is prominently
mentioned in epics. But if we look at Beowulf, one of his main
enemies is a woman. Woman's political role becomes evident in
marriages which seal pacts between tribes. Women carried physical
evidences of pacts in their own bodies. These can be considered
exceptions.
Kingship
and rulership
Medieval
kings were fighters. Royal lineage was strictly kept. The family kept
authority and land to themselves strictly. But in Anglo Saxon
tradition, kingship was a flexible affair. It depended on need and
claims of blood. When there was a need, they could consider men out
of the clan to be kings. King was the center of the nation, but king
was not the nation itself.
Powerful
kings did not limit themselves to their little kingdoms. They ruled
trans-tribe. Still their authority had limits. This is evident in
Beowulf’s story. Beowulf went to serve Hrothgar of Denmark despite
King Hygelac's wish to remain in Geats. King Hygelac did not have the
authority to prevent Beowulf from going to Hrothgar. Beowulf was
disregarded in Geats. But he built repute through his exploits at
Heorot. He represented a nation- like medieval knights of romance.
Heroic poetry of Old English is ‘equal’ to chivalric romance of
Middle English.
Overlapping
Late
heroic poetry, historic chronicle and early English romance overlap.
Chronicle was used to fix dates and years to fix movable feasts, etc.
But chronicle also gave us heroic poetry, historic commentary,
critique and commemorations.
Beowulf,
Chronicle and Brut are about kingship between the lines. Brut by
Lazamon is between heroic narrative and metrical chronicle. It is
also romance in its motif. It was influenced by Insular French.
Interaction between Insular French and English brought forth a new
identity. This enabled writing about King Arthur. So far such
writings were about Romans (Trojans, Alexander, etc.) or about the French (Charlemagne, Roland, etc.). Brut has OE alliterations but
also has rhyme, syllabic rhythm and assonance. It lacks presence of
distressed damsels like OE heroic poetry.
Treachery
has central role in poems like Song of Roland which are influenced by
French. Treachery was a cardinal sin and honour was a cardinal
chivalric virtue. Honour is celebrated in oath taking on relics.
These scenes are picturesquely described in many such poems.
Descriptions
of arming scenes, fights, tournaments, etc. show martial rituals of
cultural importance. These show the importance of good rulership.
King should be as good as best of his men and more. King should be
the epitome of justice, administer of law, mediator, peace maker,
etc. Such ideal kingship is detailed in short reign of Aurelie who
build halls, churches, restored buildings, administered laws, etc.
well.
Good
rulership is always a concern or theme in this era. It reflects the
political circumstances of the period.
Place
of the Feminine
All
these establish the continuity between heroic poetry and ME Romance.
But for romance, at the centre there is a more feminine preoccupation
with courtliness, love and marriage unlike epic's masculine
interests. These though speaks of love doesn't give up the
characteristics of epics like centrality of kingship and courtly
integrity. We also find that the line between a saint's life and
romance is blurred. Thus romance stories could stand comfortably
adjacent to rather than in opposition to religious material. The
separation of sacred and secular is slowly beginning to disappear in
medieval literature.
 |
| Virgin Mary |
By
the end of 15th century, romance was not about military function and
was fast becoming an icon of social prestige available to whoever
could afford it. But before that happened, it was the ultimate
expression of chivalry. Though we mentioned the role of women above,
we should not hesitate in stating that the owners of English romances
were most likely to be men. The class of men who could have it was
widened. Lesser knights, provincial men, burghers and the mercantile
class could consume romance by 15th century. It was offered to anyone
who was free and gentle (Note that free and gentle excluded serfs and
commoners!).
