Roman de la Rose (redirected from Romance of the Rose)

Roman de la Rose

(French; “Romance of the Rose”)

One of the most popular French poems of the late medieval period. Modeled on Ovid's Art of Love, it survives in more than 300 manuscripts. Its first 4,058 lines were written c. 1225–30 by Guillaume de Lorris; they form a charming dream allegory drawing on traditions of courtly love. About 1280 Jean de Meun wrote the rest of the more than 21,000 lines, incorporating a vast mass of encyclopaedic information and opinions on many contemporary topics, which secured the poem's fame. The Roman was translated by Geoffrey Chaucer and was one of the most important literary influences on his writings.

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Roman de la Rose 

(Tale of the Rose), a classic of medieval French literature. The first section of the poem was written in the 1220’s by Guillaume de Lorris. The narration is in the form of an allegorical dream, and the characters are personified vices and virtues. The work allegorically recounts the poet’s love for the Rose, which personifies ideal femininity and divine grace.

The second part of the poem was written circa 1260 by the clergyman Jean de Meun. Reviewing the concepts of courtly love as well as a number of contemporary philosophic views, the author champions free love, reason, and equality. At the same time, he proves to be an outstanding satirist and depictor of mores. The Roman de la Rose was popular from the 14th through 16th centuries.

EDITIONS

Roman delà Rose, vols. 1–3. Paris, 1965–70.
In Russian translation:
In Khrestomatiia po zarubezhnoi literature: Literatura srednikh vekov. Compiled by V. I. Purishev and R. O. Shor. Moscow, 1953.

REFERENCES

Istoriia frantsuzskoi literatury, vol. 1. Moscow-Leningrad, 1946. Pages 150–54.
Jung, M. R. Etudes sur le poème allégorique en France au Moyen Age. Bern, 1971.
Hilder, G. Der scholastische Wortschatz bei Jean de Meun. Tübingen, 1972.

A. D. MIKHAILOV