Cligés also has two parts. The fi rst relates how Alix-
andre, the fi rst son of the Emperor of Constantinople,
goes to Arthur’s court to test his mettle, falls in love
with Gauvain’s sister, Soredamors, and helps put down
an insurrection by one of Arthur’s vassals. Alixandre
and Soredamors then marry. The second part recounts
the career of their son, Cligés. Alixandre’s younger
brother, Alis, had been crowned emperor during his
older brother’s absence. The latter relinquished the
throne after Alis had promised not to marry so as to al-
low Cligés to succeed him. But Alis breaks his word by
marrying Fenice. Fenice and Cligés fall in love. At the
end of a complicated plot, including a magic potion, a
false death, and a secret hideaway, Alis dies and Cligés
and Fenice are united in matrimony.
The Charrette tells the fi rst known version of the love
of Lancelot and Guenevere. The queen is abducted by
Meleagant to the land of Gorre. Lancelot, known as the
Knight of the Cart after riding in that infamous convey-
ance, succeeds in saving her from her captors while
liberating Arthur’s subjects held captive with her.
Yvain tells how the hero knight wins the hand of
Laudine, the lady of the magic fountain, by defeating
and mortally wounding her husband. After this courtly
variant of the Widow of Ephesus tale, Yvain neglects
to return to her after more than a year of following
tournaments, then goes mad when she repudiates his
love. A quest ends with their reconciliation. During the
quest, Yvain aids, befriends, and is accompanied by a
lion—whence his sobriquet: the Knight with the Lion.
Yvain offers interesting parallels and contrasts in plot,
structure, and theme with Erec.
Chrétien’s last major work, the incomplete Conte du
graal, or Perceval, relates how a young, naive squire
rises to prominence through combat and love, then fails
in the adventure at the Grail Castle because an earlier
wrong or “sin” committed against his mother ties his
tongue, preventing him from asking the questions he
should. The Grail Castle is closed to him, and, as he
later learns, great misfortune spreads through the land
because of his fault, affecting orphans, widows, and
others whom the knight should protect. Perceval sets
out to right the wrong. After fi ve years of wandering,
during which time he forgets God, Perceval fi nds himself
and God again at his uncle’s hermitage, where he also
learns of his fault. Interlaced with Perceval’s quest are
the adventures of Gauvain, accused of murder, and later
obliged to seek the Bleeding Lance, which was also
found in the Grail Castle during Perceval’s visit there.
The romance breaks off while relating his remarkable
adventures.
Chrétien’s romances each average about 7,000 lines
and comprise two parts, with the exception of the Conte
du graal, which extends to somewhat more than 10,000
lines, an apparently more complex variant of the two-
part narrative structure. All are written in octosyllabic
rhymed couplets, but without the regular alternation
between masculine and feminine rhymes that came to
characterize classical Alexandrine couplets. Of more
importance for the evolution of French romance from
verse to prose was Chrétien’s extensive use of the
“broken” couplet. Before Chrétien, rhymed couplets in
French tended to be taken as wholes, so that no sense or
breath arrest took place other than on the even-numbered
line. Chrétien favored “breaking,” whereby the arrest
occurred on the odd-numbered line. This reduced the
formality of verse enunciation and, besides the freedom
it allowed the writer, was a step toward the transition to
prose romance in the 13th century.
Chrétien is remarkable for his self-conscious artistry.
He seems to have been proud of his achievement, judg-
ing by the evidence of the prologues written to almost
all his works, as well as by interventions wherein the
narrator comments on his art, ideas, and narratives. He
knew that his works contributed to fostering French
civilization, especially its chivalric and intellectual
features. The Cligés prologue in particular stresses and
conjoins aristocratic chevalerie and learned clergie.
Whatever he may have understood specifi cally by these
ideals, it is clear that they vouchsafed a civilization that
came to France from Greece and Rome. However, the
prologues to Erec and the Charrette are most explicit
regarding the art of romance, which Chrétien helped
defi ne and illustrate. They identify three major features
of Chrétien’s art: matiere, san, and conjointure.
The question of Chrétien’s putative sources is com-
plex. He refers to written sources in the prologues to
Cligés and the Conte du graal; his Ovidian tales also
illustrate his use of traditional written sources. However,
the Arthurian matiere is explained by its origins in Celtic
legend. Chrétien mined oral traditions for his tales.
The prologue to Erec mentions the jongleurs who had
related the story before him, and other sources refer to
itinerant storytellers who told marvelous stories about
Arthur, Tristan and Iseut, and other Celtic heroes and
heroines. We know little about these stories. None has
survived in its original state. It is generally believed that
they provided the Round Table, as well as most of the
names of knights and ladies; the motif of the quest as
a passage into the otherworld—the world of the dead,
of adventure, of marvelous love between a man and a
woman who is not mortal—was probably drawn from
Celtic traditions circulating in Chrétien’s time. Earlier
versions probably had a mythological basis, but Chrétien
most likely knew or understood little about it. One clear
example of the “Celticity” of Chrétien’s sources is the
quest in Erec. Erec and his wife have a misunderstanding
about his love for her. They both set out on a quest and
encounter many adventures that test Erec’s prowess and
Enide’s love. The fi nal adventure in the quest is with theCHRÉTIEN DE TROYES