Droit and Engin: Mesencius and Drances as Feudal Counselors in Le Roman d’Enéas.
This article examines the radical revisions made to two characters from the Aeneid, Mezentius and Drances, in the twelfth-century French romance Le Roman d’Enéas. In particular, Mezentius and Drances are portrayed largely as vicious or unpleasant in the Aeneid, making their depictions in the Enéas s...
| Publicado en: | Neophilologus Vol. 102; no. 3; pp. 317 - 336 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Springer Nature
Jul2018
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=130276870&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 130276870 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00282677 OK9 jtl: Neophilologus issn: 00282677 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jul2018 vid: 102 iid: 3 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 130276870 10.1007/s11061-018-9556-x ppf: 317 ppct: 19 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 455KB tig: atl: Droit and Engin: Mesencius and Drances as Feudal Counselors in Le Roman d’Enéas. aug: au: Watt, Caitlin G. affil: Department of English and Comparative Literature, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 27599, Chapel Hill, NC, USA su: Novelists Well-being Narration Literary adaptations Radicalism sug: subj: Novelists Well-being Narration Literary adaptations Radicalism keyword: Adaptation Aeneid Le Roman d’Enéas Romance Virgil ab: This article examines the radical revisions made to two characters from the Aeneid, Mezentius and Drances, in the twelfth-century French romance Le Roman d’Enéas. In particular, Mezentius and Drances are portrayed largely as vicious or unpleasant in the Aeneid, making their depictions in the Enéas surprising; from a torture-prone exiled tyrant in the Aeneid, Mezentius becomes a reasonable advisor advocating restraint and the rule of law, and the cowardly, jealous Drances becomes less obsequious, more clever, and more devoted to the well-being of the state. Although the relationship between the Aeneid and the Enéas is a popular area of inquiry for critics studying the romance, the changes made to these two characters are not often explored in any depth, perhaps because they are seen as less important to the central narrative and indicative of careless adaptation for the sake of the plot. I argue, however, that the transformations Mezentius and Drances undergo are carefully considered appropriations of their Virgilian characterizations. The author does not simplify the complexities of the Virgilian characters but instead reappropriates them to comment on the historical role of the courtly counselor and his theme of balance between private emotions and public duty for the sake of the state. By so doing, he cleverly engages twelfth-century audience’s expectations to make relevant political commentary and gives twenty-first-century readers new insights into medieval methods of adaptation. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Neophilologus is a copyright of Springer, 2018. All Rights Reserved. item: Neophilologus holder: Springer Nature dt: @attributes: year: 2018 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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