King Marc at Court Reception and Parody

Focusing on two of King Mark’s adventures in Logres, this discussion analyzes how the Prose Tristan uses narrative structure, setting, and tone to parody the concepts of reception and courtliness. Literal scenes of reception (welcoming guests) and instances of literary reception (the enfolding of material from elsewhere into the narrative) all go awry as the authorial vision makes Tristan part of the Arthurian world.