Roman de la Rose

This chapter intends to outline, in a succinct yet critical manner, the essential elements allowing us to establish a link between Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun’s Roman de la Rose and the works of Dante, from the contested Fiore and Detto d’amore to the Commedia. Rather than seeking to provide an exhaustive picture, given the abundant critical literature available, this chapter addresses the following questions: 1) what is the Rose? 2) What did it represent to the generation of Tuscan poets from the second half of the 13th century, Cavalcanti and the young Dante, in particular? 3) What was its role in Dantean writing, especially in its complex poetics, politics, and organization of knowledge