Guillaume de Lorris

The Romance of the Rose, The Continuation, by Jean de Meung

Jean de Meung wrote his long continuation (dated to between 1268 and 1285 by internal references) of the original Roman de la Rose, conceived by Guillaume de Lorris some forty years earlier. Guillaume had penned a development of the courtly love poem, allegorical in content, to act as an ‘Art of Love’ (Ovid) for his own age. Jean’s continuation is an encyclopaedic moral commentary on his world, the seeds of which lie in Guillaume’s work, but whose content and style of delivery is Jean’s own.

Winning the Rose, a Commentary by A. S. Kline

Composed in the 13th century, The Romance of the Rose created by Guillaume de Lorris and continued, and completed, by Jean de Meung, is the finest poetic achievement of the French High Medieval period. This Commentary explains the structure of the work, and the intentions behind it, and considers the detailed content, chapter by chapter, identifying references, and elucidating the speeches and actions of the personifications brought to life by the allegory.