French Literature Reviews - 2026
W. Fauquet, L'Échiquier de Nature
Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Wilfrid Fauquet
L'Échiquier de Nature
Paris, Classiques Garnier, Medieval Literary Research series, 2016
EAN: 9782812449529
142 pages
Price: €28
This work analyzes an allegorical game of chess recounted in the Eschéz d'Amours. It reveals that the moves of the pieces on the chessboard secretly evoke passages from the Roman de la Rose; they also indicate which of the three goddesses from the Judgment of Paris should be chosen.
Wilfrid Fauquet's study turns its attention to the Eschéz d'Amours, a medieval allegorical poem that blends the traditions of courtly literature with didactic and philosophical speculation. Within the broader landscape of medieval literary production, works of this kind frequently employed complex allegorical frameworks to explore questions of ethics, psychology, and romantic desire. Readers interested in medieval allegorical traditions, the reception of the Roman de la Rose, and the complex interplay between games and literature in the Middle Ages may find this study relevant.