英和和英

出典:『Wikipedia』 (2011/05/01 13:56 UTC 版)

英語による解説

引用

A Lai is a lyrical, narrative poem written in octosyllabic couplets that often deals with tales of adventure and romance. Lais often have great metrical variety and are designed to be sung to a popular melody. One well-known author of Lais was Marie de France, whose collection of Lais (c. 1155-70) were twelve Celtic tales of romance that often involved elements of the fantastic. Lanval, one of her more popular narratives, is one such story. Marie de France’s lais came down to us in the same Norman dialect that was spoken in the court of Henry II (Angevin French king of England from 1154–89), to whom Marie dedicated her lais. For these reasons she is believed to have been a member of the court of Henry II. Marie claims to have translated her lais from the Breton language, and she later translated them into French. Though the works of male romancers during Marie’s time often focused on the need to balance personal needs and social responsibilities, Marie’s works have a strong female focus—especially on the personal desires of those female characters. Lanval, for example, is about a knight who is able to escape an uncaring and arbitrary society though the love of an otherworldly fairy figure. Thus, this lai portrays both the fantastic and female focus.