Le Roman de Renart

Throughout my explorations of these ancient texts my colloquium theme has evolved and I have expanded my definition of the term "image." My concentration is about communication, telling stories via art, language, writing, and new media. When I speak of images, I refer not only to pictures, graphics and illustrations, but also to literary imagery--the pictures created by language.

The Roman de Renart is a series of tomes or "branches" written by various (usually unknown) authors about a character named Renart. Usually Renart is a fox, but sometimes he is a man. No matter what his form, he is a trickster--a Bugs Bunny type of character. Every child born in France since the 12th century through today has read the Roman de Renart. The story is so popular that the medieval french word for fox, "goupil" was replaced by the word "Renart." The story features two-dimensional characters, usually personifications of animals and, like the Fabliaux, Renart is more or less a peasant hero designed to appeal to the lower classes and expose the clergy who are usually portrayed as villains.

Branche IV--Renart and Isengrin in the well deals heavily in metaphor. Isengrin and Renart both represent poor peasants who are starving because the nearby monks are hording all the food in the region. Using animals instead of people to make this sort of social commentary is a means of sugar-coating the critique of those in power, softening the blow.

The most powerful image in this branche is that of all the monks dressed completely in white (representing innocence and godliness) beating Isengrin the wolf within an inch of his life. The scene uses a marriage of visual and literary language to convey the hypocrisy of the monks and ridicule medieval Catholicism.