Review (PDF) The Romance Of The Rose: Third Edition
Many English-speaking readers of the Roman de la rose, the famous dream allegory of the thirteenth century, have come to rely on Charles Dahlberg's elegant and precise translation of the Old French text. His line-by-line rendering in contemporary English is available again, this time in a third edition with an updated critical apparatus. Readers at all levels can continue to deepen their understanding of this rich tale about the Lover and his quest--against the admonishments of Reason and the obstacles set by Jealousy and Resistance--to pluck the fair Rose in the Enchanted Garden.The original introduction by Dahlberg remains an excellent overview of the work, covering such topics as the iconographic significance of the imagery and the use of irony in developing the central theme of love. His new preface reviews selected scholarship through 1990, which examines, for example, the sources and influences of the work, the two authors, the nature of the allegorical narrative as a genre, the use of first person, and the poem's early reception. The new bibliographic material incorporates that of the earlier editions. The sixty-four miniature illustrations from thirteenth-and fifteenth-century manuscripts are retained, as are the notes keyed to the Langlois edition, on which the translation is based.
Paperback: 510 pages
Publisher: Princeton University Press; Third edition with a New preface edition (July 3, 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0691044562
ISBN-13: 978-0691044569
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.2 x 8.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #718,464 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #107 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Regional & Cultural > European > French #293 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Movements & Periods > Renaissance #327 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Love Poems
"The Romance of the Rose" is an intriguing example of medieval literature, an allegorical poem composed by two different authors with very different intentions. It is the tale of a Dreamer who finds himself in a vast dream filled with the embodiments/personifications of all types of social expectations, states of being, and human emotion who falls in love with a Rose and tries to win her heart. Begun by Guillaume de Lorris and finished by Jean de Meun, "The Romance of the Rose" is a unique example of courtly love literature, allegory, and even satire.As Guillaume de Lorris began it, the poem begins with the Dreamer finding himself outside a walled garden, the outside of which depicts very negative aspects of humanity, while the inside seems filled with all sorts of delight. Once he gains entrance and falls in love with the Rose, he learns from the God of Love what he should do to win her forever, even though he is thwarted along the way. De Lorris did not finish his poem, although a short, anonymous ending was added to it after his death. Forty years later, Jean de Meun expanded greatly upon the work of de Lorris, changing the tone completely from straightforward allegory to often wry, sometimes funny, satire about courtly love and its expectations and contradictions. The Dreamer continues his quest, meeting many allegorical figures who propound to speak about love, only to confuse and contradict each other so that no one seems to know what love is or have anything authoritative to say. Jean de Meun is almost too obvious in his descriptions of what love is understood to be, especially in the end when the Dreamer wins his Rose, and the poem ends all too abruptly. It will leave readers with more questions than answers.
This review relates to the work, -The Romance of theRose- by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun,Translated by Charles Dahlberg, Princeton Univ.Press, Third Edition, 1995. 484 pp.This edition of -The Romance of the Rose- is interestingfor it contains all 3 Prefaces which Charles Dahlbergwrote. In the Preface to the 1st edition, publishedin 1971, Dahlberg says: "This translation of the -Romanceof the Rose-, the first in modern English prose, is one ofnearly a dozen volumes during the past decade to presentan edition, a translation, or a major commentary on theOld French poem. The aim of this book is to provide aclear, readable text that is as faithful as possible tothe original, particularly in terms of imagery. Becausetranslations have their pitfalls and because thirteenth-century assumptions about the use of imagery, indeed ofpoetry, are very different from ours, I have provided avariety of materials that may help the reader to approachthe poem with an approximation of the perspective of thattime. The Introduction, Notes, and Illustrations aredesigned primarily to elaborate and clarify such a viewof the poem."In the 2nd Preface, to the 1983 edition, Dahlberg says:[after saying that minor errors have been correctedand additions have been made to the Bibliography]"During recent years, a number of writers have reemphasizedthe contrast between the two authors in their treatmentof the poem's allegory.
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