Arthurian Literature XIX: Comedy in Arthurian Literature

The texts analyzed underline the wide dissemination of the Arthurian story in medieval and post-medieval Europe, from Scotland to Italy, while the various analyses of the manifestations of comedy refute the notion of romance as a humourless genre. Indeed, the comic treatment of conventional themes and motifs appears to be not only characteristic of later romance but an essential element of the genre from its beginnings and from its earliest development. Authors of Arthurian romance, from Chrйtien de Troyes to Malory, writing in French, Italian, Middle Dutch, and Middle English, and the creators of an Irish prose-tale, all question the fundamental assumptions of romance and romance values through the medium of comedy. The theme of comedy in Arthurian romance has been developed from the original session at the Arthurian Congress in Toulouse.