Breton Lai Character Types and Reader-Rules

The Bad Parent/Authority Figure: proud, envious, fearful, greedy, cruel, or just plain "faerie."

The Displaced Child/Vassal: unexpected, illegitimate, unusually "gifted" (see "faerie" above), unusually generous/just/honorable.

The Challenger: a bad noble; a strange knight/lady; a monstrous being.

The Agents of Return: hermits; faeries; ladies beset by enemies; magic birthright tokens.

The Concerns: bastardy/illegitimacy, orphanhood, humanity, noble ancestry, proper kinship/incest, parricide/matricide/parent-child power conflict, proper loyalty to lords and protection of vassals, justice.

• The parent/lord establishes a rule--is the rule bad?  Does the rule make sense?  Readers seek the rule logic.
• The child/vassal seeks to return--is the return linked to the rule or does it really depend on the child/vassal?  Readers want to predict the return.
• The challenger daunts the child/vassal--is the challenger really a return-agent or truly alien (monstrous, etc.)?  Readers want to know who to root for.
• The tale leaves ethical/moral residues about its concerns--does it have a clear "thesis" or is it a "debate"?  Readers engage or reject the ethos.