Roland's fame is legendary, and so, he seems larger than life to the reader, but not so large that he is unconquerable.
Roland is also extremely proud, and this pride also helps lead to his death. He refuses to sound the oliphant and call back Charlemagne's troops, and so, his pride is larger than his common sense. He says, "Better to die than to learn to live with shame -- / Charles loves us more as our keen swords win fame'" (44). Sadly, too much pride is a sin, but Roland cannot admit this, and cannot admit that he might need help. Oliver is the wiser of the two men, and understands the odds they face, but he cannot convince his friend to call back the King and his men to help in the fight. Oliver rebukes him for his pride, but not until it is too late, and all the Franks are lost on the battlefield.
In battle, Roland is beyond reproach. He is brave beyond belief and travels everywhere on the field. It seems that the Franks may win the battle, and Roland will be triumphant, but there seems to be no end to the Muslim army, and just when it seems the battle is over, a new host of Muslims arrive. Still Roland fights on, and kills numerous Muslims, while urging the men around him to keep fighting. Roland is levelheaded on the battlefield, and always keeps his wits about him. It is easy to see why he has such a reputation, because he is brave, and nothing seems to get in his way. However, his friends fall around him, and he finally admits to himself that he has made a terrible mistake. When he blows the oliphant, it is too late, and the exertion also kills Roland. He has made a poor choice, and he and his men have paid for it.
The poem makes Roland sound almost too good to be true, but he is the model that all good knights wanted to emulate. However, there are some people who do not admire Roland. Count Oliver calls him "fierce, and quick to wrath," (13), and so, some of the knights do not trust Roland, even...
Lais of Marie de France and the Song of Roland -- Epic Expressions of Romantic Cultural Imagination and a Romantic Epic of National Identity Both The Lais of Marie de France and The Song of Roland are early works of medieval verse. The Lais hail from France, The Song from England. Both are stories that depict an area of history now lost to most readers. However, there the similarities between
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These characters possess freewill, such as Ganelon and his plotting against the Franks. But the God in the epic does intervene to make sure that good really comes out victorious in the end, such as when he makes Thierry win over Pinable in a duel. The unknown author of the epic presents the Muslims as unquestionably and inherently evil and base, the reverse of the Christians (Bouneuf 2005). Although the
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" James a.S. McPeek further blames Jonson for this corruption: "No one can read this dainty song to Celia without feeling that Jonson is indecorous in putting it in the mouth of such a thoroughgoing scoundrel as Volpone." Shelburne asserts that the usual view of Jonson's use of the Catullan poem is distorted by an insufficient understanding of Catullus' carmina, which comes from critics' willingness to adhere to a conventional -- yet incorrect
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