published_or_final_version / Chinese / Master / Master of Philosophy

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Brown University. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Guo li Taiwan da xue, 1973. / Cover title. Reproduced from typescript; on double leaves. Includes bibliographical references (p. 269-281).

This item was digitized by the Internet Archive. Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / https://archive.org/details/moralcodeofchiva00gilc

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This dissertation applies the concept of hegemonic masculinity. as first proposed by R.W Connell in her book Masculinities, to three works of medieval chivalric conduct literature. This dissertation asserts that the authors of the Ordene de chevalerie, the Livre de chevalerie of Geoffroi de Charny and the Espejo de verdadera nobleza create an image of knightly masculinity that demonstrates its superiority over other forms of medieval masculinity. At the same time, each text serves a secondary purpose; in elucidating the values and political aims of its author. The Ordene de chevalerie demonstrates the hegemonic nature of knighthood by means of its frame story while at the same time trying to show how the knighthood is intimately linked to the Christian faith by means of the ritual of initiation into the knighthood. The Livre de chevalerie provides guidance on how to obtain honor and prowess, while at the same showing how the knighthood is superior to the clerical class, another powerful mode of medieval masculinity. The Espejo de verdadera nobleza demonstrates that the hegemonic form of masculinity embodied in the knighthood was open to those who showed the necessary characteristics and won the approval of the sovereign. The Espejo acts as means of institutionalizing the knighthood and shows the first imaginings of how the knighthood would change with the advent of the Renaissance. By using a theoretical framework more common to the fields of sociology and management studies to explore these texts, this dissertation demonstrates how theories that are accepted in these fields may be applied to literary and medieval studies. This dissertation also seeks to bring greater attention to the genre of chivalric conduct literature, a genre that does not receive as much attention from scholars as other medieval genres such as epic and romance. This dissertation seeks to show that chivalric conduct literature is a fruitful field of study and that these three lesser known works in this genre provide valuable medieval perspectives on the concepts of knightly masculinity. Although these authors define knighthood differently, they all agree that knighthood plays a defining role in constructing and modeling a superior form of masculinity.

Doctor of Philosophy / This thesis argues that the sixth book of Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte Darthur, the Tale of the Sangreal, introduces a new idea of chivalry to the knights of the Round Table and challenges them to reform how violence is justified in Arthurian society at the fundamental level. The central issue revolves around the knight’s intentions as they are confronted with situations of violence. In the Grail quest, each knight must demonstrate that he uses his knightly skills for the benefit of the community, not for his own purposes. By contrasting how knights justify violence in terms of Arthurian ideals, which privileges the use of violence for individual gain, with how knights justify violence in terms of Christian ideals, which privileges the use of violence to protect the community, this thesis demonstrates why Arthurian civilization collapsed as civil war engulfed the kingdom. Furthermore, the thesis shows how the Sangreal interacts with the rest of the Morte Darthur. It asks the knights to give up their worldly pretensions to honour and courtly privilege, and to reform their lives radically to comply with Christian ideals. This is achieved as the Grail journeys of the three Grail knights, Perceval, Bors, and Galahad, and the journey of Lancelot are examined closely, producing the spiritual biography of the knights. To demonstrate how far Arthurian civilization had moved from Christian ideals, the final chapter scrutinizes Arthur’s estrangement from God in the early years of his reign. These investigations make it evident that the Sangreal acts as a mirror for the Morte Darthur, proposing a better way of being within the chivalric world by closely analyzing the justification of violence within that world. This demonstrates that the collapse of Arthurian civilization is unavoidable.

"Von der philosophischen Fakultät der Frankfurter Universität als Dissertation angenommen."--P. v. / Title on each signature: Hoher Mut. "Quellenverzeichnis": p. 84-85; Literaturverzeichnis": p. 86.

This study uses Winston Churchill's "We Shall Fight on the Beaches" speech, delivered to the House of Commons following the evacuation of Dunkirk, France in June 1940, as a source text by which to examine Churchill's use of British cultural narratives in political communication. Narrative and heuristic theories are proposed as means by which listeners process such messages. A number of rhetorical devices are defined, in order to inform a discussion of the narratives identified, particularly the means by which those narratives were rhetorically embedded in the text. After a careful examination of the source text, the narratives of knighthood and chivalric values, as well as King Arthur and the Arthurian legend, specifically as presented in Tennyson's Idylls of the King, were identified as primary cultural narratives from which Churchill draws much meaning. A thorough critical history of each of these narratives is undertaken, revealing sentiments of oath-bound civic duty tracing back to Britain's historical founding as a culture and a nation, following the fall of Rome in the fifth century, and persisting up until Churchill's use of those sentiments in his historic 1940 speech.

Doctor of Philosophy / This thesis argues that the sixth book of Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte Darthur, the Tale of the Sangreal, introduces a new idea of chivalry to the knights of the Round Table and challenges them to reform how violence is justified in Arthurian society at the fundamental level. The central issue revolves around the knight’s intentions as they are confronted with situations of violence. In the Grail quest, each knight must demonstrate that he uses his knightly skills for the benefit of the community, not for his own purposes. By contrasting how knights justify violence in terms of Arthurian ideals, which privileges the use of violence for individual gain, with how knights justify violence in terms of Christian ideals, which privileges the use of violence to protect the community, this thesis demonstrates why Arthurian civilization collapsed as civil war engulfed the kingdom. Furthermore, the thesis shows how the Sangreal interacts with the rest of the Morte Darthur. It asks the knights to give up their worldly pretensions to honour and courtly privilege, and to reform their lives radically to comply with Christian ideals. This is achieved as the Grail journeys of the three Grail knights, Perceval, Bors, and Galahad, and the journey of Lancelot are examined closely, producing the spiritual biography of the knights. To demonstrate how far Arthurian civilization had moved from Christian ideals, the final chapter scrutinizes Arthur’s estrangement from God in the early years of his reign. These investigations make it evident that the Sangreal acts as a mirror for the Morte Darthur, proposing a better way of being within the chivalric world by closely analyzing the justification of violence within that world. This demonstrates that the collapse of Arthurian civilization is unavoidable.