Discuss one literary work from the Middle Ages and another from the Renaissance to discuss the concept of chivalry and the evolution of this concept.

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        I choose the Song of Roland, the typical chanson de geste, and Orlando Furioso by Ariosto, to discuss in the Middle Ages the chivalric concept which is evidently different from that in the Renaissance.  In the Song of Roland, the medieval chivalry is revealed that the feudal knights are usually brave and loyal, having a duty to fight for his king or master, and a strong belief in God.  However, with the notion of Renaissance humanism in Orlando Furioso, a knight not highly considering his duty, such as the protagonist Orlando choosing to pursue his love..

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        In the Song of Roland, as a chivalric piece of the Middle Ages, the fearless Roland, one of the Twelve Peers of King Charlemagne, boldly crusades against the Saracens, a pagan race which is not Christianized in Spain.  In other words, such a paganism is portrayed as the “otherness” which a faithful knight shall definitely conquer.  In this aspect, Orlando Furioso, a seriocomic epic, presents a distinct change of the Middle-Ages chivalry.  In the Renaissance, aware to seek for “man-centered” position, people challenge many old values such as that of the religion and feudalism in the former Church-controlled era.  Praising ...

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