In knight legend, the hero's behavior is not to fight for the interests of clan, tribe or country, but to show personal honor and dignity. Therefore, in the early knight's poems, the theme of knight's revenge for himself and the description of knight's struggle to protect his power have been greatly developed. Such chivalrous moral standards came into being: they are not so much the expression of the actual life practice of feudal lords as the idealized description of chivalrous lifestyle and code of conduct. Chivalrous morality requires knights to help the weak and unprotected, unconditionally obey the principle of honor, and serve their neighbors selflessly. This is not the case in practice, but in their own eyes and people's eyes, this class hopes to embody the highest virtue of mankind. From Knight's novels, there is a profound description of inner activities and emotions in literature for the first time. Although story elements occupy a lot of space in these novels, and these stories about various descriptions are also rich in content, the description of the plot itself is not the purpose of these novels. What is presented to us is the spiritual world of people in the Middle Ages. In knight novels, the fundamental denial of asceticism morality is very clear. The novel affirms people's right to enjoy love and happiness in life. The Catholic Church preaches that people's desire for happiness is the depravity of human nature, but the author of knight novels doesn't think so. On the contrary, literature actually tries to describe people as animals with noble nature and pure feelings.
Idealization of chivalry
Obviously, medieval novels idealized chivalry. These novels describe customs and fashions in a refined and meticulous style. With the development of cultural literacy in medieval chivalry, people really tried to get rid of the customs of rough primitive life left over from barbaric times. Thus came the concept of etiquette-elegant manners and noble behavior. It is not difficult to understand that etiquette is limited to knights, and does not extend to the relationship between feudal lords and ordinary people. Even among knights, seemingly gentle manners are often just used to cover up all kinds of treachery, treachery and evil. But we should not think that the author of knight novels consciously beautifies the knight system to deceive readers and listeners. Judging from their works, the medieval poets who created these beautiful knight novels were all noble people, and they sincerely tried to establish these ideals in real life. Therefore, knight novels should not be regarded as literary works with limited social significance. Knight poetry is one of the phenomena of cultural progress in the Middle Ages. It reflects the transition from barbarism to a higher social form and higher spiritual culture. Knight novels are also loved by people in the people's class, because the moral ideal they hope to establish is more cordial to them than the upper representatives of feudal society. Medieval knight novels are essentially different from early medieval epics. Although "Same Difference" also has fictional elements, its epic narrative is based on real life. In this sense, we should say that the earlier people's epic is a realistic work. As for knight poetry, we can consider it as one of the earliest phenomena in romantic literature. In this kind of poetry, what we see is the romantic interest with the highest emotion and colorful fiction, but the reality is obviously beautified-the reality has undergone such artistic changes, and even the indirect connection between artistic image and reality. In most hours, readers only see a world far from their real life where they often work and worry.
The germ of individualism
We also see the sprout of individualism in knight novels. The hero of epic is suitable for people around him and connected with the nation, while the hero of knight novel is far away from the people. A knight, even among people of his own class, is an individual who conflicts with his own environment. When explaining this feature of medieval literature, belinsky pointed out that during this period, "the concept of an individual who is isolated from the people, divorced from all relations and only pursues personal interests" came into being. ..... Bards tell gloomy poems about the pain of love, the sadness of a melancholy peasant woman or a imprisoned princess, poems about victory and victory, stories about love, revenge and honor-all these have resonated ... Poems have been adapted into novels. This kind of novel is indeed a knight novel full of fantasy, a mixture of common and unfamiliar, possible and impossible, but they are no longer poems, and the seeds of modern novels have matured in this kind of works. "
Add romance.
Belinsky also pointed out that knight poetry adds the following characteristics of romanticism: "Love and respect individual personality; The generous and brave spirit of sacrificing all strength and even one's own life for the oppressed and persecuted; Idealized worship of women, thinking that they are the representatives of love and beauty on the earth and the glory gods of harmony, peace and comfort; Pursuing all secrets and mysterious and restless desires in infinite gloom-this is the romantic component that constitutes the rich life in the Middle Ages. "