The purpose of this dissertation is to determine and investigate the Verwandlungen of Reynard the Fox in selected pieces of medieval literature. This exploration is limited to five carefully selected and representative works of the Beast Epic. They are: [lsengrimus, by Magister Nivardus; Li Plaid, or Branch I of the Roman de Renart cycle; Van den Vos Reinaerde: a free translation and expansion of Li Plaid; Reinaerts Historie: a continuation of Van den Vos Reinaerde; The History of Reynard the fox]. These then are the five selected items. I have purposely chosen works which are closely allied to one another because in this fashion differences, which occur in the comparable parts of the works, are more apt to reflect changing attitudes which are purposely incorporated than incidental or haphazard changes. In trying to illustrate how and in what direction these changes move, I make up the literary personage of Reynard. These include the fox's background and nature (as an animal), the importance of the changing epic structure to his Verwandlungen, his reflective or introspective attitudes which reveal his "social" nature. From this point I proceed to a related topic, the religious nature of Reynard; I then treat the sensual aspects of the literary personage and include a rather important section on the effect of language in the ct. The cunning of Reynard makes up the chapter in the body of the work. It serves mainly as a reference point to draw together all the foregoing features of this character by means of a common bond: the dominant characteristic of cunning. An epilogue then follows to suggest how this particular genre appears to be related to a subsequent literary phenomenon, the picaresque. - [Author]

Language: English

DOI: 10.25335/qkyf-bh14