Bellesa, valor, and honor. Direct speech strategies in Curial e Guelfa

The paper focuses on the instances of direct speech in the anonymous chival- ric romance Curial and Guelfa. More specifically, it analyzes, on the one hand, the encomia of the young hero Curial pronounced by the characters in their speeches, and, on the other hand, the formal and structural characteristics of two types of direct speech: speech dealing with love themes, and speech addressed by a challenger to his rival in the context of duels. Furthermore, the study examines the occurrences of the term honor in direct speeches as an expression of the au- thor’s concept of chivalry.