The 13th-century “Constance” tales.

Abstract

Four texts from the 13th century make up the first attestations of the "Constance" plot, a version of ATU 706 "The Father who Wanted to Marry his Daughter." This dissertation harmonizes a comparative investigation of these tales with an analysis of the cultural milieu of the Middle Ages. The figure of the sexually persecuted and exiled daughter comes to the forefront of popular culture as discourse on repentance centers around the correction of monstrous sins. In the "Constance" tales, the daughter reconciles her repentant father and husband, between whom power is transferred on account of the heroine's suffering. A thematically similar anecdote in the Chronicle of Morea points toward an international motif of an errant daughter benefiting the man she marries against her father's initial wishes.