Tirant lo Blanc: A Detailed Literary Analysis
Tirant lo Blanc: The Chivalric Novel
Key Features
- Set in the second half of the 12th century in France.
- Features realistic heroes.
- Contains epic and legendary elements.
- Set in real, identifiable places.
- Aimed at a popular audience.
- Rooted in oral tradition and verse form.
Analysis of the Work
The structure is that of a chivalric novel, centered around the main character who serves as the axis of the work, with episodes that expand upon the central plot.
Chapter Breakdown
This division of the book is attributed to Martí de Riquer.
- Chapters 1-97 (England): Tirant achieves the status of a gentleman by participating in courtly battles.
- Chapters 98-114 (Sicily and Rhodes): Features maritime scenarios and court scenes where he is established as an admiral.
- Chapters 115-297 (Byzantine Empire): He becomes a bold and victorious captain and develops his love for Carmesina. This part features two decisive characters: Plaerdemavida (who is in favor of their love) and the Viuda Reposada (the “Reposed Widow,” whose attempts to thwart them fail).
- Chapters 298-407 (North Africa): Tirant’s troops reach North Africa, where he deals with local leaders and achieves the conversion of Saracens.
- Chapters 408-487 (Return to Byzantium): He returns to the Byzantine Empire, frees it from the Turks, and formally marries Carmesina.
Aims and Values
The novel’s spirit is that of a “total novel,” encompassing various genres and topics (like war and love) through its narrative process and methods.
- Knightly: The novel focuses on the biography of a knight, describing individual battles and military strategy.
- Historical: It is set in identifiable territories.
- Social: It portrays the social classes, customs, and practices of the era, contrasting the brilliance and magnificence of the court with misery and corruption. It depicts a society transitioning from the medieval period to the early Renaissance.
- Erotic: Love and sex are important themes. The novel presents a view of eroticism with total freedom in its amorous episodes.
- Psychological: It provides an analysis of characters who are not predetermined prototypes of the era.
Character Analysis
The treatment of the characters is an innovation for its time.
- Tirant: A character of great psychological wealth. He is witty, astute, and clever. He is wounded several times. Despite his lineage, he is shy, vulnerable, and gloomy in the field of love. He initially holds misogynistic principles, mocking love, but this is transformed. His death is unheroic, caused by an illness.
- Emperor of Constantinople: Engages in erotic dialogues with the maid Plaerdemavida.
- The Empress: Commits adultery with her lover, Ipolit.
- Ipolit: The Empress’s lover, who reminds her of her deceased son.
- Viuda Reposada (The Reposed Widow): Carmesina’s governess, a woman of severe and duplicitous morals. She falls in love with Tirant, becomes disruptive, and commits suicide when she cannot separate him from Carmesina.
- Plaerdemavida: A shameless and clever maid who acts as a go-between, helping the lovers and satisfying her own desires by contemplating the sexual acts of others.
- Princess Carmesina: A psychologically complex character. At 14 years old, her primary motivation is to preserve her virginity.
Literary Sources
The novel’s prose is admirable for its variety and richness, drawing from diverse texts and materials.
- Chronicles, especially those of Ramon Muntaner. Fragments from the chronicler Sacosta, a biographer of one of the characters. The narrative technique explains events as a chronicle would, linking them to their causes.
- The story of Guy of Warwick and the tragedy of Lancelot.
- Ramon Llull’s Book of the Order of Chivalry.
- The Fàbula by Guillem de Torroella (doctrinal part).
- Episodes concerning the Twelve Peers of Charlemagne, in both martial and moral terms.
- Lo somni by Bernat Metge.
- A sirventes by Guillem de Berguedà (Chapter 195).
- Ausiàs March (Chapter 198).
- Joan Roís de Corella.
- Ovid.
- Dante Alighieri.
- Giovanni Boccaccio.
- Petrarch (Chapter 193).
- The author’s own experiences from travel and chivalric life.
Language and Style
In the late 13th century, there was a growing consciousness of the different Romance languages. From the 15th century, the natural language of Valencia was designated as such. In the final third of the 15th century, Valencian literary prose was dominated by a rhetorical and Latinized style, with Joan Roís de Corella as its most representative author. This style was cultured, elegant, and pedantic, characterized by its imitation of Latin.
Characteristics:
- Anteposition of the adjective to the noun.
- Separated noun-adjective pairs.
- Hyperbaton (inverting word order), especially at the end of a period.
- Periphrasis (indirect or circumlocutory speech).
- Use of cultured roots.
- Use of Latinisms.
- Use of the “-issimo” superlative.
- Use of present participles in place of relative clauses.
- Frequent use of gerunds.
- Long, complex sentences.
Context and Genre Comparison
Courtly Romance (13th Century)
- Narration in the vernacular.
- Features fantastic heroes, warriors, and love elements.
- Set in fictitious places and indefinite times.
- Aimed at an aristocratic audience, distributed in written form.
Books of Chivalry
- Example: Amadís de Gaula.
- Contain implausible elements and are set in distant lands.
The Chivalric Novel
- Example: Tirant lo Blanc.
- Features relatable knights.
- Deep psychological portrayal of characters.
- Set in known places and a proximate time period.
- Written in prose.
- Absence of wonderful or magical elements.
- Logical action, realism, and humor.
Historical Background (15th Century)
In the 15th century, Valencia became the central hub for the Crown of Aragon. The plagues of the 14th century had little effect on Valencia, which replaced Barcelona as the financial and economic capital. Life in Valencia was more prosperous than in all other Catalan-speaking territories.