Roman de la Rose
Medieval allegorical poem on the art of romantic love.
Last updated
Le Roman de la Rose (The Romance of the Rose) is a medieval allegorical dream-vision poem written in Old French, notable as a work of courtly literature that purports to disclose the whole art of romantic love. Composed in two stages by two authors, it uses the Rose as both the name of the titular lady and an abstract symbol of female sexuality, with other characters functioning as personal names and metonyms for factors in a love affair.
Background
The Romance of the Rose was written in two stages. Guillaume de Lorris composed the first 4,058 verses circa 1230, describing a courtier's attempts at wooing his beloved in a walled garden, a locus amoenus. Forty-five years later, circa 1275, Jean de Meun added 17,724 lines, expanding the allegorical personages—such as Reason and Friend—and adding new ones like Nature and Genius, who discuss the philosophy of love in encyclopedic breadth.
Did You Know?
- The Burgundian British Library Harley MS 4425 has 92 large miniatures, despite a date around 1500.
- An edition from Lyons in 1503 is illustrated with 140 woodcuts.
More in Epic Poetry & Myth
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Roman de la Rose (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced