SOURCE: “Parody in Aucassin et Nicolette: Some Further Considerations,” in The French Review, Vol. XLIII, No. 4, March, 1970, pp. 597-605.

In the essay below, Sargent examines two passages in Aucassin et Nicolette in which the author deliberately rejects medieval literary conventions. These examples, maintains Sargent, emphasize the author's humorous intentions.

Among those who have commented on Aucassin et Nicolette in the last few years there is general agreement that the chantefable was written, at least partially, with humorous intent. When it comes to the exact nature and scope of the humor, the agreement is much less marked. Some scholars have stressed the apparent satire of contemporary ideas and institutions: Christianity and the Catholic Church,¹ feudalism,² the whole complex of received ideas of the older generation.³ Others have concentrated their attention on the verbal and structural aspects of the work that suggest parody. Three recent articles, by Alexandre Micha, Omer...