The Sinful Knights: A Study of Middle English Penitential Romance
- Author / Editor
- Hopkins, Andrea.
The Sinful Knights: A Study of Middle English Penitential Romance
- Published
- Oxford: Clarendon, 1990.
- Physical Description
- x, 249 pp.
- Description
- Examines four Middle English romances against a backdrop of late-medieval penitential doctrine and practice, and assesses the presence of penitential motifs in several more. The major penitential romances--Guy of Warwick, Sir Ysumbras, Sir Gowther, and Roberd of Cisyle--reflect little contemporary penitential theory but parallel contemporary hagiography and earlier penitential materials. The romances
- containing penitential motifs differ widely, although the subtle and sophisticated treatment of penance in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight counterpoints the hero's lack of self-awareness.
- Chaucer Subjects
- Background and General Criticism.