دانلود کتاب Metamorphosis and identity: The individual in society in "Guillaume de Palerne" [thesis]

Guillaume de Palerne, an anonymous roman d'aventure of the late twelfth century, offers a complex portrayal of identity based on the correlation between the individual's core identity--the fundamental character initially fixed at birth by natal and bodily identity--and the individual's various relational identities. Close readings of the text show that the protagonists simultaneously incorporate various antithetical notions such as change/constancy, individuality/conformity, and wild/civilized. The poet uses the hidden, disguised, and transformed identities of the protagonists to accentuate the unreliability of external signs and the importance of carefully interpreting the elusive truth that is concealed behind appearances.

Chapter I examines the characteristics of the ideal knight and his social role in Guillaume de Palerne, shows that the poet undermines the stereotypical vilain-courtois opposition, and concludes that the poet presents the eponymous hero as the model for noblemen to emulate.

Chapter II analyzes the four different meanings of aventure in the romance, discusses the establishment of heroic identity through aventure, and offers a generic definition of the roman d'aventure.

Chapter III shows how the poet uses love, duality, and recognition scenes to play with the identity established by aventure. It also demonstrates that the protagonists are portrayed both as textual individuals within the context of Guillaume de Palerne and as generic types--the hero and the heroine--having their counterparts in other romances.

Chapter IV examines the narrative strategies of the text and discusses the poet's use of authorial interventions, multiple points of view, and renarration to highlight either his professional identity or the subjectivity of individual experience.

Chapter V compares the Guillaume poet's handling of the werewolf motif with that found in other werewolf tales of the high Middle Ages and argues that Guillaume de Palerne represents an important reworking of the motif. It shows how the werewolf form functions as a disguise in the romance and concludes that the poet uses the theme of metamorphosis to accentuate the coexistence of change and constancy within the individual.