Verlangen als verhaalmotor

lust, list en liefde in de middeleeuwse literatuur

Abstract

The sin of lust proves to be a powerful story engine in medieval romance and other genres. King Uther’s lust allows Merlin to manipulate him into fathering Arthur; a devil sleeps with Merlin’s pious mother and Lancelot’s desire for the queen makes it possible to deceive him: he sleeps with King Pelles’s daughter and Galahad is conceived. Adultery and sex are also used to comic effect, especially in fabliaux and the works of Boccaccio and Chaucer, where shrewd women manage to get away with deceiving their stupid elderly husbands.