Allegory, Myth, and Legend

By Daniel Zimmermann

This e-book treats “The Romance of the Rose” by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun; Plutarch’s legendary biography of Numa Pompilius; “Ku and His Children,” a Hawaian myth remaniscent of the Greek myth concerning Orpheus and Eurydice; the original Pinocchio story by Carlo Collodi; and
“The Death of Santos Vega,” a Spanish poem by Rafael Obligado.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Aug 8, 2019
• ISBN: 9780359842131

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Allegory, Myth, and Legend

Allegory, Myth, and Legend

By Daniel Zimmermann

The Romance of the Rose: A Medieval Allegory

Le Roman de la Rose (The Romance of the Rose) was originally poetry written in Medieval French. My copy of this work is a prose English translation by Frances Horgan, published by the Oxford University Press. My article is based on this English translation.

The Romance of the Rose is the work of two thirteenth century French authors: Guillaume de Lorris and Jean Chopinel, who was born in Meung-sur-Loire. He is therefore generally called Jean de Meun. Guillaume wrote the first part, a little more than 4,000 lines. Jean de Meun added well over 17.000 lines to finish the work.

The exact date of composition is not known, but information can be gleaned from the text itself. At the time when Jean de Meun was engaged in writing this work, Conradin, the last of the Hohenstaufen line, had already lost his life. Moreover, Charles of Anjou, who had wrested Sicily and southern Italy from the Hohenstaufens, was still alive. This means that at least some of the literary activity of Jean de Meun took place between 1268, when Conradin died, and 1285, when Charles of Anjou departed this earthly scene. The text also reveals that Jean de Meun was not yet born when Guillaume de Lorris was writing his share of the work. So Guillaume probably made his contribution before the middle of the thirteenth century.

The entire work, including the part written by Jean de Meun, is a dream of Guillaume de Lorris. In this dream, he took a walk during the pleasant month of May and encountered a pleasant garden surrounded by a wall. The wall was adorned with such characters as Hate, Evil, Avarice, and Envy.

Guillaume found a narrow door in the wall and knocked. A beautiful girl named Idleness opened