Visual Power and Fame in Ren d'Anjou, Geoffrey Chaucer, and the Black Prince [Hardcover]

Reading semiotically against the backdrop of medieval mirrors of princes, Arthurian narratives, and chronicles, this study examines how Ren? d Anjou (1409-1480), Geoffrey Chaucer s House of Fame (ca. 1375-1380), and Edward the Black Prince (1330-1376) explore fame s visual power. While very different in approach, all three individuals reject the classical suggestion that fame is bestowed and understand that particularly in positions of leadership, it is necessary to communicate effectively with audiences in order to secure fame. This sweeping study sheds light on fame s intoxicating but deceptively simple promise of elite glory.Introduction Fame and F?rstenspiegel Ren? d'Anjou's Negotiations with Fame: Creating for a Future Past Chaucer's House of Fame: The Quasi-Iconoclastic Present Edward the Black Prince, The Future King Conclusion

Gertz is a true comparatist. Basing her work on semiotic principles enunciated by Maria Corti, Umberto Eco, and Roman Jakobson, Gertz brings together the three major figures of this book, Ren? d'Anjou, Chaucer, and the father of Richard II, in ways that continually surprise us. The binding elements are visual power and fame, united in the figure of a leader who rules for the good of all with persuasive eloquence and vision. Gertz presents us with three individuals who, already having acquired fame, ask why such prominence is unable to explain or justify so much of what is important to humanity. Gertz's book itself thus becomes a meaningful meditation on the elusive and enigmatic goddess of Fame. - David Bevington, Phyllis Fay Horton Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the Humanities, University of Chicago

Gertz explores what she terms the iconic myth of fame in three central works from the late medieval period in English and French. Relying on her firm command of medieval rhetorical theory and current semiotic theory, and with a broad range of primary works in the Middle Ages, she analyses narrativel&