Due momenti nella storia del romanzo di formazione: il Conte du Graal e Great Expectations

Chrétien de Troyes’s Conte du Graal and Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations are two examples of narratives concerned with the personal development of an individual as he learns about himself and tries to find his place in the world. They stand at the beginning and at the height of the development of the European Bildungsroman ; Great Expectations is also known for its distinctive treatment of the genre, which sets it apart from other novels, such as Dickens’s own David Copperfield. This study focuses on a comparison between the Conte du Graal and Great Expectations showing that both texts share a similar narrative structure and a number of themes and motifs. The analysis of these shared features allows us to understand the different approaches to the theme of personal development in the texts and also their role in the development of the Bildungsroman tradition.