SOURCE: "The Angel in Le Jeu de Saint Nicolas," in Romance Notes, Vol. XI, No. 2, Winter, 1969, pp. 420-26.

In the following essay, Lemke argues that Bodel created the role of the angel to facilitate the shift between humorous and religious scenes in Le Jeu de Saint Nicolas.

The majority of critics either disregards completely the character of the Angel in Le Jeu de Saint Nicolas by Jean Bodel or mentions fleetingly the lyrical quality of his verses, without attempting a more detailed analysis on any level. The role and function of this figure are somehow forgotten or overlooked—perhaps because he has so few lines—in discussions pertaining to the attribution of lines to characters, the invention of appropriate stage directions, the mélange of genres, obscurities involving sources and analogues, and the like.¹ It is our contention that the presence and the function of the Angel must...