[Form and Function of the Grotesque Woman in German, English, and French Medieval Narrative]

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Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION5

The Grotesque Woman5

Melusine as Grotesque6

Shame And Disgrace8

Fifteenth Century Meadvial Narrative8

THESIS15

Author And Text22

Early Editions23

Modern Editions24

French Translations24

Further Discussion24

Summary Of The Text32

ANALYSIS OF MÉLUSINE AS A GROTESQUE WOMAN33

Curse36

Secrecy37

Otherness37

Centrality38

Hybrid38

Instability Cavernousness39

Ambiguity40

Ugliness41

Hyperbole42

REFERENCES44

CHAPTER 3

Introduction

The Grotesque Woman

A stylistic enhancement of German, English, and French Medieval Narrative, the term names a perverse intertwining of ludicrous, estranged beings or comic events and their tragic outcomes, as with the pervasive mythic figure of Melusine as the grotesque woman plays a much greater role than Blonde Esmerée..

The Old French Melusine ou l'histore de Lusignan informs the notion of the medieval grotesque in a story about family and their genealogical history. A stirring application of the tragic Melusine as Grotesque occurs in children's literature—the entrapment and display of a pathetic dwarf child removed from a feral setting and forced to entertain royalty in Oscar Wilde's sad fairy tale The Birthday of the Infanta (1888). Unaware of his ugliness, the hunchbacked dwarf witnesses his monstrous body and wry limbs in a mirror, collapses, and dies. The peevish princess, annoyed that her fantastic live toy will never return, demands that future royal playmates have no hearts, a portentous command that reveals the twisted, unloving heart within her (Wilde, 263).

Moreover, we see that a damsel named Helie arrived in court, asking for aid. The Blonde Esmerée (Fair Esmerée), the daughter of King Gringas. Blonde Esmerée was the Queen of Wales, who had been transformed into a serpent by two sorcerers. Only a kiss from a brave knight could lift the spell from Esmerée. This is another example of Melusine as Grotesque woman in the literature.

Melusine is the daugher of Elinas, a human, and Presine a fairy. Melusine is the protagonist and the only significant and strong in her story. However her story is preceded by the history of her parents Presine and King Elinas of Albanie (Ecosse, Scotland). In her life, the curse of her body plays the dominating role. She is cursed to be a serpent on Saturdays by her mother. this predicament is the reason why she has to marry a human, a mortal, who, if loved, will release her from this curse. The grotesque in her body is thus being a half serpent. Otherness is the main theme, based on the curse by her mother and the secrecy to remain undisclosed about her serpent body in the noble world she lives after marrying Remondin (R).

Melusine as Grotesque

The term Melusine as Grotesque derives from the Italian grotte (caves) and entered ...