La Faiblesse Chez Gautier de Coinci by Brigitte Cazelles (review)

LA FAIBLESSE CHEZ GAUTIER OE COINCI BY BRIGITTE CAZELLES (Stanford French and Italian Studies 14. Saratoga, Calif.: Anma Libri & Co., 1978. Pp. 180.) This book develops a significant perception about the Miracles of Gautier de Coinci. The author notes that Gautier departs from his medieval predecessors by depicting la faiblesse as a virtue. Unlike the hero of epic or romance, whose goal is perfection, heroism, or strength, the characters in Gautier's Miracles illustrate, in effect, that weakness or imperfection is a necessary pre-condition. It is the miracle which restores for the character—and confirms for the audience—the fundamental unity of the cosmos. The preceding observations constitute, as I suggested, a significant perception. What we must further observe, however, is that the author makes her main points in the first few pages and fails to add as much to them as we might hope. There is some elaboration (concerning, for example, the distinction between Gautier's conception of youth and that of epic and courty authors) and some useful analysis. For the most part, however, the volume remains rather general and quite repetitive. Some sections appear not to deliver all they promise; to offer a single example, a 50-page chapter on "Le Theme de la faiblesse dans le contexte litéraire" actually makes inadequate reference to that context. There are general discussions of epic and romance, specific (but not particularly penetrating) discussions of the Roland and the Ciiarette, and passing allusion to a few other works. The study has a good deal to commend it. It is organized and presented in a very straight-forward fashion, and the style is clear and pleasant. But the reader repeatedly bogs down in the course of the work, and it is ultimately hard to escape the impression that the author has made a book out of what could have been treated adequately—and perhaps more effectively—in a long article. NORRIS J. LACY* •NORRIS J. LACY is Professor of Medieval French Literature and Chairman of the Department of French and Italian at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. His publications include studies of Chrétien de Troyes, Roland, Béroul, Villon, Renaissance love poetry, and other subjects. -,.VOL. 34. NO. 1 (WINTER 1980) ...