SOURCE: "The Rhyme Schemes of the Jeu de Saint Nicolas as an Indication of Staging," in Australian Journal of French Studies, Vol. I, No. 3, September-December, 1964, pp. 226-56.

[In the following excerpt, Marshall uses the various rhyme schemes employed in Jeu de Saint Nicolas as a basis for analyzing the play's meaning, structure, and stage layout.]

The literary merits of the Jeu de St. Nicolas have been only slowly recognized, due for the most part to three interrelated stumbling-blocks to appreciation of the play—the difficuties of the language, the apparent disunity arising from the juxtaposition of seemingly incompatible elements and the obscurity of the overall purpose of the work. Language difficulties have been eroded away in the studies of a large number of scholars, to the point where the finer nuances of the text can be understood without impediment. Recent critics, notably Vincent,¹ Foulon², and Henry³ have all insisted on the essential unity of the play—tavern scenes, epic drama and exotic miracle cannot be detached the one from the others but together form one integrated whole. Foulon and Henry see this integration taking place at the level of form and organisation—as it undoubtedly does. "Le Jeu de St Nicolas est une oeuvre d'art, d'art littéraire; il faut le juger non pas tellement sur son contenu—dont on force alors fatalement les disparates apparentes—mais en se plaćant davantage sur le plan de l'lécriture et sur celui de I'agencement scénique et des effets proprement dramatiques".⁴

Of the three, Vincent only attempts a demonstration of unity in the content of the play, basing his argument on the overriding importance of the Saint's legend and the unifying rôle of St. Nicholas himself.⁵ As a consequence he alone would appear to attribute to the play any intention other than to entertain, any significance other than the rather bizarre association of the exotic, the religious and the vulgarly familiar in a unified dramatic structure.

It would seem, however, possible to go further than the purely dramatic; to ascribe, like Vincent, an intention to Jean Bodel's play, but one far more definite than the mere pious representation of a sacred legend; to see in the work a significance beyond the obvious, which gives point to the disparate elements and links them in a manifest unity at the level of content, which establishes a clear connection between the play and the politico-social conditions obtaining at the moment of its composition, and which underlines the extreme complexity of its organisation. This deeper meaning lies in a series of symbols closely attached to the structure of the play and the stage, symbols which cannot be seen as a coherent system unless, like the mediaeval audience, we can see the play unfold in the movements of the actors on a stage whose disposition is highly significant. This we are not yet in a position to do, as can be realised by a perusal of the different accounts of Jean Bodel's stage, which are at variance not only over the disposition of the lieux but even their number.

The primary aim of this study is then to establish as accurately as possible without recourse to the arbitrary, the nature and arrangements of the stage, using the wealth of internal indications which the play affords and particularly the rhyme schemes which are the key to the whole complex.⁶

The Significance of the Rhyme

The basic metres of the Jeu de St Nicolas are three⁷—octosyllabic couplets (8 x 2), octosyllabic sextets rhyming aabccb (8 x 6), alexandrine monorhyme quatrains (12 x 4).…

It is not in general necessary to attribute any purpose to the multiplicity of rhyme and metre patterns found in the early dramatic texts, be they Latin or French. In the dramatic evolution that we can study ab ovo,¹¹ as it were, that deriving from the Quem queritis … a given text is progressively rhymed, tentatively at first, then with growing precision; verse forms, taken from other sources, are used for successive elaborations. The result is a gradual accumulation of diverse metrical patterns originating more or less haphazardly from the disposition of words in the original text, external sources, individual inventions and so on. Although proof is wanting, it can be supposed that this primitive state is to some extent common to the liturgical drama proper, and to religious plays in general. In any case there are ample indications of successive elaborations on a primitive dramatic text and of composite authorship during the early period of dramatic development. These conditions provide sufficient explanation for the multiplicity of metrical forms.

It is reasonable then to presume the establishment of a tradition of diversity in rhyme and metre, leading to the conscious stylistic variation of metrical pattern, variation for its own sake, and culminating in virtuosity, as in the Raising of Lazarus by Hilarius.¹² The pleasure which the twelfth or thirteenth century listener found in the variation of established patterns of all sorts is amply illustrated on the one hand by the Chanson de Geste and on the other by the Chanson Courtoise.¹³

Jean Bodel is certainly a virtuoso in his use of metrical and other formal patterns, but is the versification of his play only virtuosity? Grace Frank would appear to think so:

He varies his usual octosyllabic couplets with stanzas of different structures that, as in Courtois d 'Arras, pay little heed to individual speeches and changes of scene; this shifting pattern must have given pleasure and satisfaction to the poet, but only a finely attuned ear in his audience could fully have appreciated it, though to such an ear it would have been music indeed.¹⁴

But some of the changes in versification, particularly the angel metres, have such a clear purpose that a presumption of function is inevitable for them at least. To determine whether all the metrical changes are explicable in terms of purpose and to fix the nature of their possible functions, it will be useful to set the play into the general development of French Drama; as a byproduct we will be able to see better the nature and extent of Jean Bodel's originality.

Taking as a starting point the tradition of metrical diversity from which variation for stylistic ends derives, we can also see attempts to exploit varying patterns for other purposes. Only three of these are distinguished here, although this distinction does not imply that the categories established are mutually exclusive. It is possible to find all functions at once in a given text. First, a change of rhyme and/or metre is used to indicate (perhaps at first unintentionally) a change of episode. This is the case in many dramatisations of the Visitatio Sepulchri—those for example from Engelburg,¹⁵ Cividale,¹⁶ and the Fleury Play-book;¹⁷ in the Tres Filiae of the Fleury Play-book¹⁸ the intention is more marked. Changes in verse structure are used to distinguish the successive offers of the three daughters and the arrival of the gold, from the successive fiançailles. Another example and a striking one is found in Courtois d'Arras¹⁹ but in view of the uncertainty of dating this work and the possibility that it is from Jean Bodel's pen, no conclusions can be drawn from it.

Secondly, and the logical extension of category 1, there is the use of varying patterns to distinguish one speaker from another. See, for example, the dialogue between the angel and Mary Magdalene in the Passion play from Origny-Sainte-Benoite,²⁰ also the trochaic verse used for the Jewish speech in the Benediktbeuern Passion Play,²¹ and the monorhyme quatrains used by the soldiers in the Seinte Resurreccion.²² A particularly interesting example is found in the Daniel of Hilarius²³ and in the Beauvais Danie²⁴ lines 312-341, where the speeches of Daniel and Darius are distinguished in rhyme aa/aabccb (the rhyme schemes of the Jeu de St. Nicolas), and metre 2 x 8/2 x 4, 1 x 7, 2 x 4, 1 x 7.

Thirdly, metres (frequently lyrical) are used for special effects. The most obvious examples of this type are the planctus of the liturgical drama, and derivatives in, for example, Theophile²⁵ and Courtois.²⁶ Compare also the tirade of Nicodemus in the Seinte Resurreccion,²⁷ and the decasyllabic quatrains of the Jeu d'Adam.²⁸

These, and perhaps other purposes, can be discovered in early dramas, both in French and Latin; they can also be found in the Jeu de St Nicolas. But there is a difference of capital importance between our play and the tradition, an innovation of no mean significance on the part of Jean Bodel. In other early mediaeval plays variation in rhyme and metre would appear primarily as the consequence of a tradition. The Planctus excepted, specific intentions, where they can be seen, almost invariably occur sporadically, at times almost accidentally, in a given work, and are applied inconsistently, with little or no sense of overall purpose, even in those works of high literary merit written about the same time as the Jeu de St. Nicolas, for example Courtois d'Arras, or later, for example, the Miracle de Theophile. To take Courtois as a typical example, we find the first two scenes—the Home and the Tavern—clearly distinguished by a rhyme change; then follows a lamentation by Courtois, in appropriate form, on his lot and, from this point on, the same pattern that we find in the Tavern episode is exclusively used, despite the scene changes involved in the prodigal's home-coming.

In the Jeu de St Nicolas, however, the changes of rhyme scheme, be they between basic and exceptional types, or alternance between the basic types, extend from the beginning to the end of the play and permeate its structure.²⁹ Purposeful variation of pattern, purposeful recurrence of established patterns, are part of dramatic tradition. But this play is unique³⁰ in the consistent recurrence throughout of identical or associated patterns, and this consistency argues strongly for a consistent purpose or purposes applicable all through the play. The traditional purposes of metrical variation sketched above are inadequate in themselves to uncover the master pattern in the rhyme changes of the Jeu de St. Nicolas but they do provide a starting-point. For convenience the metrical patterns of the play are divided into three groups.

The angel speeches are in part in one of the basic metres and in part in exceptional ones, but wherever they occur they are clearly isolated from the metrical forms used about them. The primary purpose of the versification here is clear—to distinguish the celestial personage from all the others (c.f. category 2). These metres peculiar to the angel have another function, as clear as it is traditional³¹—they are used for special effects (c.f. category 3) in that they are all strophic, that is lyrical. The introduction of lyrical passages into a dramatic development is characteristic of the liturgical drama and this would appear to be the evocation intended here³² and the explanation of two of the patterns chosen—the decasyllabic quatrains, and the hexasyllabic octets which can be regarded as a variant on alexandrine quatrains;³³ note too that the content of the other anomalously rhymed passage—the octosyllabic octets—is in planctus form.

Why does the angel use, at times basic metres, at times anomalous ones? If the anomalous patterns have a purpose beyond their liturgical evocations, it will be to detach the heavenly being from the continuum of the basic tenses. It follows then that the use of basic tenses will involve the angel in this continuum.

The alexandrine quatrains occur twice—at the dispatch of Auberon (vv. 239-250) and in the preliminaries to the battle, first for the pagan speeches, then for the Christian (vv. 384-411, 424-427).

The second of these, the preliminaries for the battle, can be explained as a metre for special effects. This is a traditional metre for introducing a serious note into a dramatic development.³⁴ Its intention here is more specifically epic.³⁵ But this explanation, though undeniably correct, is not wholly satisfying since the epic incident properly includes preparations, battle and the capture of the Preud'homme whereas the alexandrines are confined to some of the prepuaraions alone.

No such explanation is possible for the first occurrence of the metre. The scene is neither more serious nor more epic than those which surround it. The only purpose distinguishable here, in terms of the categories established above, is to mark a change of episode (category 1), which the rhyme change does in fact do. But why, at this one point in the play, should Jean Bodel have recourse to alexandrines to mark a change of incident? If this is the only purpose of the rhyme change, then there is no conceivable reason why the poet could not use, as he does everywhere else, the alternate basic rhyme; in this case 8x6, since the scene which precedes (Connart's cri) and the inn scene which follows are both in 8 x 2.

In short there are two contradictory explanations for the alexandrines; a change of scene in the first case, an explanation which does not apply to the second since metre pattern and scene do not entirely correspond; a special purpose for the second which is inapplicable to the first. The implication is that a complete explanation for this metre has yet to be found.

It is necessary to insist on the fact that in the octosyllabic couplets and sextets there is no variation of pattern in the rhyme schemes aabccb and aabb, etc., except for one possible scribal omission, and two verses in which rhyming couplets are used with rimes croisées. The latter form one of the angel metres which has been dealt with above. These two types comprise 1453 of the 1538 lines of this play and form its major patterns.

There is no necessity to seek antecedents either for octosyllabic lines or rhyming couplets. They form the most common basic rhyme and metre patterns in vernacular drama. The rhyme pattern in aabccb is more interesting. Its use elsewhere in the vernacular would appear to post-date the Jeu de St. Nicolas, with the possible exception of Courtois d'Arras. It is found in the Miracle de Théophile, in six syllable lines,³⁶ in the Jeu de la Feuillée³⁷ in octosyllables. All three of these works use in addition the other two basic rhymes of our play and are possibly derivative in this respect.

Prior to the Jeu de St. Nicolas the rhyme is found, not infrequently, in Latin plays: in the Fleury Raising of LazaruS,³⁸ where it is used throughout and also the version by Hilarius;³⁹ in the Or do Joseph⁴⁰ (with the inclusion of non-rhyming elements); in the Beauvais Daniel and the Hilarius play of the same name already cited; in the Fleury Image of St. Nicholas.⁴¹ In all these cases, however, the rhyme pattern is linked not to parisyllabic lines but to a scheme in which the rhyming third lines are of different length from the preceding pairs.⁴² The use of the pattern with octosyllabic sextets would then appear to be an original adaptation on the part of Jean Bodel.

Those who see a purpose in the alternance of the basic rhyme schemes in the Jeu de St. Nicolas are in agreement that first, a change of rhyme indicates a change of scene, provided that this is envisaged, not in the modern sense, by the entry or exit of actors, but by changes of incident or location,⁴³ and secondly that in general the couplets are attached to the Tavern and the sextets to the scenes involving the King, etc.

Both of these suggestions involve anomalies. One series of these forms an (intended) exception to any system—the changes of rhyme in the conversion scene at the end of the play and also the rhyme change in the prayer to Tergavan (vv. 165-182) in the MS version of the text. It may be preferable in the latter case to adopt Reid's ingenious emendation, which, by advancing the sextets to the beginning of the prayer, reestablishes the normal incidence of the rhyme change.' These special anomalies apart, there still remain others, not very significant in the case of the first postulate—for example one could object that there is a continuity of rhyme covering two separate incidents in lines 436-465—the battle and the discovery of the Preud'honmme; in lines 496-549—the scene between King and Preud'homnme and the incarceration of the latter, and so on.

In the second postulate and again excepting the special anomalies, the King and his followers twice use the Tavern metre—that is couplets. This can be explained as Reid does⁴⁴ by recourse to dramatic expediency. Yet both postulates can be reconciled, all the ordinary anomalies removed, and the functions of the rhyme changes brought into sharp focus by a simple extension of the first, an extension implied in both Reid and Vincent but not generalised. This is to attach the rhyme schemes at to people or sections of the action, but to the physical areas of the stage. Thus a change of mansion, or more appropriate for this play lieu, will involve a change of pattern. This hypothesis can be confirmed dramatically: by the thieves who leave the Tavern couplets when they leave the Tavern and take them up again as they enter it after the theft; by the Taverner, Raoulet and Caignet who never move about the stage and never use anything but couplets; by the Courlieu (the name itself is a clue) who goes through 'three rhyme changes (that is four rhyme patterns) in 110 lines. Always excepting the special rhyme changes, there would appear to be one exception only to this convention. The thieves when they return the treasure, that is pass into the Palace area, do not use the Palace rhyme. This is perhaps deliberate.

In itself this precision is only slight but it has far-reaching consequences—first in determining the nature of the stage. We can presume a stage made up of two distinct and separate areas each designated by a characteristic edifice; a stage which in its disposition expresses the same dichotomy as is found in the rhyme schemes, structure and content of the play. For future reference the Tavern area (8x 2 aabb) will be numbered 1 and the Palace area (8x 6 aabccb), 2; secondly in determining the position of actors on the stage. A character using a specific rhyme will be in the area designated by it.

With these factors and the generous textual indications given in the play, we have sufficient evidence to reconstruct the stage, to see the play evolve and thus to comprehend something of its significance. But before this can be done, the problem of the alexandrines left in suspension earlier must be solved and the only solution which provides a satisfactory explanation for both occasions on which the metre is used, is to extend to it the convention already applied to the octosyllables, to see associated with the third basic rhyme a third acting area of a nature as yet undetermined. There are indications that this area is also used for some of the anomalous angel metres (v.inf.).

If this association of rhyme with the disposition of the stage is correct, Jean Bodel, with traditional metrical schemes and traditional techniques has created a unique dramatic principle from which he obtains extraordinary effects.

The Stage

We have then a stage divided into three parts. On two of these, by the testimony of the rhyme, the greater part of the action is played. The fundamental contrast, dramatic, social and ideological between the two, requires them to be equated in size and position, and since the action is passing continually from one to the other they must be juxtaposed.

The third area (4 x 12) is, according to the rhyme, used only four times: vv. 239-250, the dispatch of Auberon; vv. 384-435, the preliminaries of the battle; vv. 550-560 and vv. 1265-1278, the last two appearances of the angel. We can also presume a limited use in the final tableau. This infrequent use would tend to suggest a smaller area than 1 and 2 and this hypothesis is supported by the fact that, with the exception of the arrival of the Christians (explained in due course), area 3 appears to have been used by a maximum of two people at once. (King and Auberon, King and Seneschal, Angel, and Preud'homme holding St. Nicholas). Area 3 must be so disposed as to be accessible from area 1 (cf. the exit of Auberon, v. 144; the positioning of the Christians for the battle, vv. 436 ff.); and from area 2, (after the Seneschal's exit, the movement of the King into area 3, v. 224).

The only possible arrangements fulfilling these conditions are for area 3 to be placed either in front of, or behind the line of junction between areas 1 and 2, that is the stage would form a T or a T.⁴⁵ There are many indications, 'deriving both from possible historical antecedents and also from the dramatic requirements of the play, that it lies behind areas 1 and 2. Area 3 is used (vv. 384-395) in conjunction with area 2 which is encumbered at the time with the pagan army. If the Seneschal and then the King are not to be obscured, area 3 must be raised. This hypothesis is supported by the dramatic advantage to be gained by entry on a higher level, particularly in the last two appearances of the angel,⁴⁶ and on the arrival of the Christians.

The disposition of these three areas and their size relative to each other will be revealed more clearly as the position of the different lieux are fixed.

In studying, and especially appreciating the value of, a mediaeval text there is a danger of interpreting it in the light of modern experience, and this danger is the greater if, in certain aspects, the work concerned has affinities with the modern view-point. But there is an equal danger that in those areas of mediaeval literature where our knowledge is incomplete, we should limit our interpretation too strictly to the information available from better documented areas, in this case, especially the liturgical drama proper and the Latin ludi on the one hand, and on the other the later religious plays. Profoundly rooted in mediaeval tradition this play is, as we are at pains to show. It is, as well, remarkably original, even 'modern' in its dramatic treatment. These preliminary remarks apply particularly to the nature of the lieux and the way in which they are used.

As for their number, Jeanroy puts this down as at least eight:

… le palais du roi, un simulacre de temple ou du moins une colonne pour la statue de Tervagant, une taverne, les quatre lieux figurant la résidence des 'amiraux', une fosse servant de geôle, le tout disposé autour d'un espace libre où se passent les scènes sans localisation pracise et où se livre la bataille.⁴⁷

To these Foulon would add three: the battle-field, the treasure and tentatively, the manoque.⁴⁸ To the list G. Frank would again tentatively add a paradise and a mansion for the Christians.⁴⁹ Reid and Henry offer further modifications. Some of these lieux are essential: Tervagant, the Tavern, the Palace, the Treasure, the Prison. The others are not absolutely necessary, but it will be seen that provided they are envisaged in the right way none need be rejected. Indeed the number might be increased by two—a market place where the cris are given,⁵⁰ and a room of indeterminate size and function to house Auberon: "Iés tu chaiens" says the King to the Courlieu. But to admit this number, the traditional way of envisaging a lieu will have to be radically changed for those indicated as non-essential.

There are indications in the structure of the play itself that it is not as other mediaeval plays are. It is not necessary to analyse in detail the structural antecedents of the Jeu de St. Nicolas. Acceptable will, I think, be the generalisation that early plays are the dramatisations of a story, episodic in their nature and of two types or a mixture of both. Either successive incidents occur at one place, or incidents occur at successive places. Our play on the other hand consists rather of two episodic units taking place simultaneously but quite separately, linked superficially by the activities of the Courlieu and Connart, until at the theft they fuse into a third development which is the prolongation of the first. Here in fact we see a stage which is truly simultaneous or rather where the possibilities of simultaneity are exploited to the full.

There are innovations too in the conception of the lieux and of the stage in general. One of the first impressions one has of the Jeu de St. Nicolas is of the extraordinary amount of movement on the stage. Auberon and Connart are summoned and dismissed; the thieves come and go, steal the treasure and return it; the Preud'homme is twice thrown into prison and twice taken from it; the Emirs and their armies arrive and fight; the angel enters and departs four times. The rhyme/metre convention permits a more precise view of this movement; in particular, that it takes place not only in localised areas (as in the Tavern scenes for example) but also at times over the whole stage and that it involves not only the peripatetic characters—the Crier and the Courrier—but all the others except those who never leave the Tavern, since all but these three use more than one metre, or like Connart and the Christians speak only in one area but according to other indications move into or out of another. For the first time in a complex play, the stage, divided internally as it be, is conceived as a unified whole. Although the traditionally segmented playing-area is largely unchanged, the great originality of this stage is that it imposes on the divisions a conception of unity.

Two corollaries attach to this general characteristic of movement on the stage.

1. With the exception of the Tavern and its permanent occupants, the lieux are used only sporadically. This you would expect for the Prison and the Treasure, since these concern only incidents in the general development. Such a usage is quite traditional. But the Palace itself, centre of a third of the play, would appear to be hardly used. The King's movements, traceable by the rhyme and other scenic indications in the text, would suggest that he uses the Palace only twice: to receive the Preud'homme after the battle and to sleep in during the theft.

   In effect we see here a liberalisation of the actors from the narrow confines of a particular lieu, which accords with the extent of movement determined above, and a consequent evolution of the lieu toward the modern conception of a stage property. It is used where appropriate to the action to create a semblance of reality, but as an integral part of a larger unit, subordinated to the stage as a whole, and the scope of the general playing area is correspondingly increased.

2. It is traditional that some characters should be attached permanently to a given lieu, as are Durant and the Taverner in this play, and some should move from lieu to lieu. But it could perhaps be said that, in early mediaeval plays in general, the movement envisaged within the structure of the play takes place on stage between lieux. In other words, and still as a generalisation, we might say that entries and exits from the playing area in the course of a play, envisaged as an integral part of its action, are rather infrequent.

In the Jeu de St. Nicolas the proportion of characters with no fixed abode is very high. One or more entries and exits are clearly indicated for the Thieves, Connart, Auberon, the Christians, the Angel, and even the King and Seneschal, if the testimony of the rhyme is of any value. Thus suitable exits must be provided on stage, and arrangements made in the text, to cover the arrival and departure of the characters.

Using the rhyme in conjunction with the structural characteristics of the play and the stage, we can now attempt to fix the approximate position of the lieux and describe their nature more precisely.

Tervagan

By the testimony of the rhyme, Tervagan does not belong to area 3, since there is nothing to link him with the 4 x 12 scheme. We know, however, from line 1530 that he is at the top of steps—"Ces escaillons me mescontés". He could well be sitting on the level of area 3. Nor does he belong to area 1 since from a position which can only be in front of him he is addressed in the rhyme pattern of area 2, (aabccb), at lines 165-170. Nor is he in area 2, since from approximately the same position he is addressed in the area 1 pattern, (aabb), at lines 171-182. There is only one point then at which he can be placed—at the point of intersection of all three areas, the very centre of the stage. Corroborative details are furnished by the play itself. What is its central theme? A pagan society is introduced; it overcomes the mortal representatives of Christianity; by the faith of a Preud'homme, the sacrilege of a band of rogues and the intervention of St. Nicholas it is miraculously converted. Tervagan is clearly established by the invocation of lines 165-182 as the symbol of this pagan faith, his silent presence overlooks every development of the plot and the miracle of conversion is symbolised by his overthrow at the end. He represents the central theme of the play; where more appropriate for him than the centre of the stage?

The play is not only constructed round a central theme but based on an essential dichotomy. There is a continual opposition between the two centres, the Pub and the Palace, in the rhyme-patterns, the structure and the content of the play; between the right and the left of the stage.⁵¹ Whatever the symbolism of this opposition, at least one of its values is clear. If one side represents Paganism, the other will represent Christianity. What more appropriate than that the axis around which this opposition turns should be defined by the symbol of the pagan faith, replaced at the end by that of Christianity?

This play, centred around one theme, based on a dual opposition which is heavily underlined by constant alternation in the structure, metrical pattern and stage areas, is also constructed in three parts as Foulon has indicated;⁵² the first, the power of Paganism, presided over by the idol, the third the frustration of this power by St. Nicholas. The second contains the apparently anomalous intrusion of Arras society. Is it not possible that the opposition between first and second so insistently stressed, indicates also a parallelism; that the rogues' gallery assembled in the Tavern under the shadow of the same idol represents another Paganism, equally frustrated in its evil ways by the same Saint and the same miracle? But whereas the foreign Pagan is converted, the thieves, the Innkeeper and Caignet remain unregenerate. Set in the context of the crusades such a meaning would provide a biting satire on certain elements of the contemporary "Christian" society of Arras—a satire heavily underlined by the very large number of invocations to God and the saints in the mouths of the thieves.

If we pursue this hypothesis further we reach a point of contact between the triple structure of the play and the tripartite stage. If on the lower level an opposition is made between two societies, the one foreign, the other national or rather local, the one Pagan, the other Christian, and both unregenerate, we observe on a higher level⁵³ a corresponding opposition in the realm of ideology between Tervagan and the angel; on an epic level (testimony of the alexandrine quatrains) between the forces of good (the crusaders) and Evil (the Emirs); then in the battle follows the temporary triumph of evil and at the same time, an opposition between the upper level—those who die for their faith—and the lower level—the thieves, cheats and touts of the Tavern, who stay at home pursuing their material ends. Is it not feasible that as a result, first of the conflict and martyrdom of the crusaders (for how otherwise would the contact between St. Nicholas and the Pagans have been made), and secondly of the miracle, all these multiple oppositions are resolved and the two lower areas, the two conflicting societies of this world, are linked to the upper level, the other world, the realm of ideologies and angels, that is heaven, in the figure of St. Nicholas, held aloft in triumph in the place of the overthrown idol: the unification of the world under the banner of Christ, achieved by a divine miracle? Then the final lines of play take on an infinitely rich significance:

A Dieu dont devons nous canter
Huis mais: Te Deum Laudamus.

The symbolism of the Jeu de St. Nicolas will be further developed below. For the moment, it is enough to indicate the symbolic relationship between the formal structure of the play, the form of the stage and the real significance of the plot—a symbolism so typical of the middle ages, which clothed all its beliefs in tangible forms, which attached spiritual significance to things and expressed its religious faith in the length, breadth, and height, the shape and orientation of its churches. So typical too in the ubiquitous play of parallelisms and oppositions found in the sub-stratum of symbolic meaning; in the form and structure of the plot; in the contrasts between humour, satire, tragedy, the epic and the ordinary, the foreign and the local; in the form of the stage; in the characters of the protaganists—group contrasted with group, individual with individual; and culminating in the verse forms; those with purely local significance—the patterns of areas 1 and 2—contrasted with types intended for special effects—the angel metres and the alexandrines; opposition and contrast in each of these general categories and in the web and woof of the verse itself a fascinating tissue of similarity and variation, particularly in the sextets.

In the centre of it all, an overshadowing presence involved in every successive element of the play, and linking all the disparate strands into an incredible unity, stands the great gilded statue of Tervagan, eloquent in his silence, and lucid in the gabble of his speech.

One or two miscellaneous remarks arise from this elaboration of the function of the tripartite stage, and particularly of area 3. The suggestion of a paradise made by Grace Frank⁵⁴ can be retained provided that this is identified with area 3 and is not a separate structure. In the play this identification is only gradually acquired in a series of stages beginning with a purely pagan association, evolving through the appearance on the upper level, and in succession of the crusaders and the angel and only completed in the final scene, with the elevation of St. Nicholas and the symbolic unification of the three areas of the stage. But as has already been remarked, Jean Bodel's realisations, although transcending the traditional usages, are nevertheless strongly based on them. In identifying his upper stage with paradise he is perhaps counting on established associations (v.inf.).

In the process of this identification, area 3 becomes successively a pagan territory (vv. 239-250, 384-395) invaded by the Christian crusaders (vv. 396-427) in the sense that it is identified with each in turn, thus supporting another of the hypotheses of Miss Frank (the mansion for the Christians) in circumstances which she did not envisage. Here again we have evidence of a prior tradition which provides the starting point for a transformation in the hands of Jean Bodel. In the secondary lieux the spatial boundaries of the mansion are relaxed and extended to fit into a more general section of the stage. At the same time the representational realism of the mansion is removed, so that the same area can fulfil the functions of different mansions in succession, relying for each successive identification on the circumstances of the play and on indications in the text where necessary. The mansion is here transformed into a lieu in the modern sense of the word by a fiction strangely suggestive of the Elizabethan stage. In this sense we can also talk of the lower centre stage area as a mansion for the battle as Foulon suggests. A transition towards this development can perhaps be seen in the possible double function of the prison (v.inf.).

In emphasizing the symbolic significance of the three stage areas, we must also bear in mind that this division is charged with dramatic possibilities which Jean Bodel exploits to the full.

Tavern and Palace

These two lieux can be positioned on the stage at one and the same time. Since they represent the two diametrically opposed sections of the play, and in view of the symbolic relationship between the content of the play and the form of the stage, we can presume that the position of one in its area will correspond exactly with the other in the second area. It is also probable that the structural details of each will correspond. We also know, from the rhyme, that the Tavern will be in area 1 and the Palace in area 2. We can presume from the identification of area 1 with Christian society that this will lie on the spectators' left and area 2 on the right, benefiting from the possible traditional association of these locations with Paradise and Hell, although this is immaterial.…

The Treasure

As Foulon has observed⁵⁶ the treasure must lie on the outer side of the Palace, since the thieves look into the latter on the way to the theft (vv. 996-7). Its position in this general section is not further indicated.

The Angel

The Angel twice uses the rhyme aabb which would indicate two appearances in area 1. In contrast, the next two appearances, in anomalous lyric metres would suggest that they take place outside areas 1 and 2 cf. p. 231. The symbolism of these scenes sketched on pp. 238-240 would indicate that they occur in area 3. The fact is important in the placing of the prison.

The Prison

The rhyme indicates that the prison belongs to area 2 as one would expect (aabccb). But as we have seen this area can extend if necessary right to the wall of the Tavern. To satisfy the rhyme convention, the Prison can therefore be placed either on the centre-side of the Palace, that is in the neutral area, or on the outer side. Of these two alternatives, the second is immediately ruled out, since the Preud'homme is twice either in the Prison or on the threshold, when addressed by the angel from area 3. The Prison must therefore be in the central area, either to the right or to the left of Tervagan. A position right in front of the idol is to be ruled out since the escaillons in this position must be kept clear for the final scene. Because of the affinities between Prison and Palace it is fairly safe to presume that the former lies somewhere to the right of the idol.

When it was a question of placing the Palace and Tavern in front of area 3, the objection was raised that these edifices would obscure the upper level or force it to an unsatisfactory height. The same objection does not apply to the Prison, which is the more effective if it is low and dark.⁵⁷ It is not easy to fix its position more precisely. Certain factors can however be considered. We know that there were steps in the middle; we have presumed, from the movements into and out of area 3 traceable by the rhyme, access (presumably steps again) at each end of the upper stage. But these do not preclude the positioning of the Prison at any point between Palace and idol.

In view of the importance of the angelic visitations, and also the dramatic advantages obtained by having a space between Palace and Prison in which the prisoner can be maltreated as he is dragged off to incarceration, the lieu would tend to be more central than to the side.

As far as its nature is concerned, two hypotheses are possible, depending on the nature of the stage and the extent of the steps. Steps at each end of a smallish area and steps in the middle—it requires little effort of the imagination to join the three into one continuous set, extending the full length of area 3. But for the moment let us exclude this possibility, or admit that the steps are of such material that a hole can be cut in them. In either case the Prison will most conveniently be in a cavity, with steps on either side, and leading into the open space under the upper stage. This would be a most convenient arrangement as it imposes no positive structure on the bareness of the middle area to detract from the splendid isolation of Tervagan. If, in addition, the performance takes place at night, as it may have done, no screening is necessary. Provided there is no light under the stage, the Prison would appear just as a dark hole—a singularly appropriate appearance for its purpose.

But there is another possibility which persistently obtrudes itself upon the imagination—that we are dealing here with a continuous set of steps made of stone. In this case the Prison would have to be an unobtrusive edifice offering concealment to two people—the Preud'homme and Durant, and presumably curtained, cf line 541—"Durant, Durant, oevre le chartre!"

Whatever its nature, the Prison, situated, as it would seem to be, somewhere near the middle of the stage, may have fulfilled another function. During the battle-scene which clearly takes place in the central section of the lower stage, the Preud'homme must be introduced without being seen, so that he may be discovered by the returning Emirs. The Prison structure, where we have placed it, seems ideally situated to conceal him until he can emerge, masked by the fighting. If, as Foulon suggests, he is in the manoque mentioned in the prologue, the low Prison could well do double duty here.

The Emirs

The location of the Emirs will almost certainly have been on the extreme right of the stage. Since they are all named in the text of the play, it is not necessary to suppose any mansion(s) for them. If there was some sort of edifice, there is no indication of its nature.

The Stage Exits

To complete this reconstruction of the stage the positioning of the exits must be established. Two stairways connecting areas 1 and 2 with area 3 have already been fixed. They are labelled B and C on the plan [I have drawn up]. A possible exit has been suggested at the site of the Prison-cum-Manoque.

The remaining exits required at both levels to admit actors on and off the stage will have to provide cover off-stage. To do this a screen or curtain could be envisaged, running down the sides of area 3 and along the back of areas 1 and 2. But if the upper stage is, as we have suggested,⁵⁷ between five and seven feet above the lower, then a screen to cover the access at this level would have to be up to twelve feet high at the front and, while not impossible, this is unlikely. A much simpler solution is offering.

If the Tavern and Palace are where they have been placed in the preceding sections, then their back walls, which will be perhaps seven feet high, will offer an adequate screened area behind them, and create natural access on to the lower stage around the outside, at A. and D. In this case the upper level would be a platform stark and bare, approached from the screened area, below and on either side, at E. and F. This would not be as dramatically effective as a screen but so much easier to contrive, particularly as these accesses are used only for the entry of the Seneschal and exit of him and the King on the one hand, and on the other, the exit of Auberon and entry of angel and Christians. The starkness would be of advantage in throwing all characters in area 3, including Tervagan, into sharp relief. The hypothetical entrances into the rear of Tavern and Palace could easily be contrived from the same screened area.

Hitherto, aided by our knowledge of the rhyme convention, structure and significance of the play, and the indications given in the text, we have let the internal logic of the work recreate the stage, without any attempt to justify a preconceived pattern. Now it is time to look at the recreated whole in historical terms. What is this stage? In the rhyme patterns and their function, in the structure of the play, the nature of the lieux, the various literary techniques employed by Jean Bodel, we have found a fundamental basis of tradition, and an extraordinary originality of exploitation. The lieux in that aspect in which they are traditional mark a point in the development of drama from the simple to the complex, from the sepulchre of the Quem Queritis to the multiple mansions of the later Passion play, from the simple seat—the quasi-Jerusalem—to representational realism.

It is reasonable then to expect that this stage, with its two levels linked by steps, will have historical antecedents, and we have not far to look. Even among the rare examples of vernacular drama prior to our play, there is an obvious model—that of the Jeu d'Adam as described by G. Frank⁵⁸—that is the church porch. The general lay-out of our stage is strikingly similar, so similar, in fact, that it may necessitate a modification of our conclusions. The smaller upper level, the locus eminencior, the more extensive lower, the plateae, projecting laterally at either side and together with the Palace and the Tavern and the area behind them which they screen, virtually embracing the upper on three sides, the evidence of steps at three points at least of the front elevation, those three steps that will insist on joining into one, and two more access steps at the side, all correspond so well with the model that there is no need to insist further. The initial assumption, when this realisation dawned, was that the Bodel stage was a derivative that the author, realising the dramatic possibilities inherent in the primitive stage, had adapted it to his own use. But here there is no adaptation of the stage proper (excluding the lieux). The similarity between it and its supposed model is such that the possibility appears inescapable that the play was designed around an actual church porch.…

The rhyme has led us a long way, from the stage to some indication of the significance of the play itself, from the disposition and nature of the lieux to a hypothesis about the circumstances of presentation. En route we have seen revealed a succession of parallel schemes, a stratified complex, ascending from a base in the physical details of the acting area, through the structures of rhyme and plot to a summit of symbolic mysticism; a complex in which each stratum corresponds exactly with those above and below it. It is in this correspondence that we see a convincing general justification of the intentions we have attributed to Jean Bodel, and in particular of our interpretation of the purposes of the rhyme.

It is proposed in a subsequent article⁷⁷ to test the validity of these conclusions by reconstructing all the movements on, onto, and off the stage, to "see" the play evolve, with the purpose partly of showing that on a stage disposed more or less as has been described the play could, nay must, have been performed, and partly of revealing its true inner meaning and the complex beauty of its composition.

Notes

¹ P. R. Vincent, The Jeu de Saint Nicolas of Jean Bodel of Arras—a literary analysis. The Johns Hopkins Studies in Romance Literatures and Languages, XLIX, Baltimore (1954).

² Charles Foulon, L'Oeuvre de Jehan Bodel, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France (1958).

³ Albert Henry, Le Jeu de Saint Nicolas de Jehan Bodel, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France (1962).

⁴ Henry, op. cit., p. 43.

⁵ op. cit., pp. 83-91.

⁶ Line references throughout are to the edition of Warne F.J., Jean Bodel, Le Jeu de Saint Nicolas, Oxford, Blackwell (1951), which is nearer to the original intention of Jean Bodel, as we see it, than is the more recent edition of Henry. A table of concordances is published in the latter work on p. 52.

⁷ It should be noted that in most of the descriptions of the rhyme schemes of this play made to date, there have been a number of inaccuracies. See T. B. W. Reid, "On the Text of the Jeu de Saint Nicolas" in Studies in Medieval French presented to Alfred Ewert, Oxford (1961), pp. 97-99.…

¹⁰ In K. Young, The Drama of the Medieval Church, O.U.P. (1951).

It is not the intention of the article to establish a direct filiation between any of the texts cited below and the Jeu de St. Nicolas, but to establish the existence of certain traditions prior to the writing of our play. Although some of the works quoted survive in MSS. later than the end of the twelfth century, the evidence they offer of traditions more ancient, can reasonably be presumed to be valid.

¹² Young, ii, p. 212 ff.

¹³ See F. W. Marshall, "The Twelfth Century Courtly Lyric" (Résumé) in the Proceedings of the Eighth Congress of the Australasian Universities Language and Literature Association, p. 57.

¹⁴ G. Frank, The Medieval French Drama, Oxford (1954), pp. 104-105.

¹⁵ Young i, 375 ff.

¹⁶Idem, i, 378 ff.

¹⁷Idem, i, 383 ff.

¹⁸Idem, ii, 311 ff.

¹⁹ This in spite of the opinion of G. Frank, op. cit., pp. 104-105, cited on p. 228. Octosyllabic sextets, rhyming aabccb, are used for the first scene at the father's home; they are replaced by octosyllabic couplets for the Tavern scene; there is an interpolation of alexandrine quatrains for the lament and then octosyllabic couplets continue to the end of the play, despite the change of scene between the home of the Bourgeois and the final meeting with the father.

²⁰ Young, i, 417.

²¹Idem, i, 433, vv. 20-25.

²²La Seinte Resurreccion, ed. Jenkins, Manly, Pope and Wright, Oxford, A.N.T.S. (1943), vv. 265-318, p. 33.

²³ Young, ii, 276 ff., vv. 287-312.

²⁴Idem, ii, 290 ff., vv. 312-341.

²⁵ Rutebeuf, Le Miracle de Théophile, ed. G. Frank, Paris, C.F.M.A. (1949), vv. 384-431. Note also the following prayer in six syllables rhyming aabccb.

²⁶Courtois D 'Arras, ed. E. Faral, Paris, C.F.M.A. (1922), vv. 427-446.

²⁷ op. cit, vv. 255-266.

²⁸Le Mystère d'Adam, ed. P. Studer, Manchester U.P. (1949).

²⁹ Cf. W. Noomen, "Remarques sur la versification du plus ancien théâtre français. L'enchaînement des répliques et la rime mnémonique", in Neophilologus XL (1956), pp. 179-189. This significant survey of the function of the mnemonic rhyme in Bodel's play reveals a skill and a consistency in the use of rhyme which corroborates those qualities that we find in his work; the correlation indicated between action on the stage and rhyme patterns is complementary to our general thesis. But the mnemonic function of the rhyme does not otherwise come within the scope of this study. Cf. also Henry, pp. 38-39.

³⁰ In the Fleury Tres Filiae the varying patterns are consistently used throughout, but as the play is so short and so simple, this consistency is not very significant.

³¹ Cf. Vincent, p. 94, Reid, p. 97.

³² Cf. Foulon, op. cit., p. 699.

³³ Cf. Henry, pp. 94 and note on vv. 550 ff.

³⁴ Cf. Studer, Le Mystère d'Adam, p. lii, and Mario Roques, "Les Quatrains monorimes", in Romania, XLVIII (1922), p. 43.

³⁵ Cf. Foulon, p. 697, and Vincent, p. 93.

³⁶ vv. 432-538.

³⁷ Adam le Bossu, Le Jeu de la Feuillée, ed. E. Langlois, Paris, C.F.M.A. (1951), vv. 33-182, 837-872.

³⁸ Young, ii, 199 ff.

³⁹Idem, ii, 212 ff.

⁴⁰Idem, ii, 267, vv. 25 if.

⁴¹Idem, ii, 344, vv. 112-135.

⁴² This pattern is similar to the rhyme/metre scheme used by Rutebeuf from v. 101 in the Miracle de Théophile.

⁴³ Cf. Vincent, p. 95; Reid, p. 98; Foulon, p. 700.

⁴⁴ op. cit., p. 98.

⁴⁵ The possibility that area 3 lies between areas 1 and 2 can be dismissed on the evidence of the rhyme changes in mid-prayer and mid-conversion, where no major movement is indicated.

⁴⁶ Cf. Reid's suggestion of a rostrum for the angel, p. 97.

⁴⁷ Jean Bodel, Le Jeu de Saint Nicolas, ed. A. Jeanroy, Paris, C.F.M.A. (1958), p. 25.

⁴⁸ op. cit., p. 644.

⁴⁹The Medieval French Drama, p. 104: "At the far left there may have been placed a paradise to house the angelic messenger and St. Nicholas. Some indication of the King's dwelling at one side and of the tavern at the other would. have been needed. The exotic lands of the Emirs might or might not have been suggested by mansions of some sort; probably one of these little structures housed the Christians, whereas in another, representing a prison, Durand the goaler took his stand. The great battle must have occurred in the playing-space in front, and there messengers and criers could also have their say."

⁵⁰ Cf. Henry, p. 41.

⁵¹ As A. Adler has seen and attempted to explain in "Le Jeu de Saint Nicolas, édifiant mais dans quel sens", in Romania, LXXXI (1960), pp. 112-120.

⁵² Cf. Foulon, pp. 640-641. Viewed in relation to the formal structure of the play, these divisions do not correspond entirely with those suggested by Foulon.

⁵³ Cf. Foulon, p. 697: "… à l'ang e son t réservés les tirades en octosyllabes; le changement de mètre correspond au changement de plan." On the two-level stage the figurative changement de plan perceived by Foulon can be effected literally. Cf. also note 46.

⁵⁴ And of the rostrum suggested by Reid, p. 97. …

⁵⁶ op. cit., p. 644.

⁵⁷ Cf. v. 545: Entres, vilains, en cele fosse! The prison would have to be at least four feet high. This estimate, in conjunction with the factors mentioned earlier, would indicate that the upper stage might be five to seven feet above the lower.

⁵⁸ "Genesis and Staging of the Jeu d'Adam" in P.M.L.A., LDX (1944), p. 11 ff. and especially pp. 14-17.…

⁷⁷ Entitled The Staging of the Jeu de Saint Nicolas; an analysis of movement, to appear in A.J.F.S., 1965, no. 1.