Death and Rebirth in Chivalric Quest Narratives

Abstract

The image of the knight in shining armor setting upon a perilous quest is embedded in the popular consciousness as the archetypal conception of the Middle Ages in fiction, and while there is no shortage of scholarship on many aspects of chivalric romance, little so far has been done to define its sub-genres or establish its structures; the quest narrative in particular has not been adequately explored as a sub-genre in its own right. By studying a selection of exemplar texts in Middle English, including Sir Orfeo, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Le Morte Darthur, this thesis will explore chivalric quest narratives as a unique sub-genre of chivalric romance. Based on the literary theory of Dante Alighieri, chivalric quest romances will be examined on an anagogical level to discern a basic pattern of death, rebirth, sin, and salvation at the core of these narratives.