"A Knight to Remember"
My senior thesis is a storyboarded sequence that I call "A Knight to Remember." Set in medieval Europe, it follows Olive, a woman who competes in a jousting tournament, disguised as a male, and Euphemie, the spectating princess who falls in love with this masked knight. after they humiliate the reigning champion, Euphemie's despised soon-to-be husband in an arranged marriage. This is designed to be part of a larger story following the relationship of these two characters as they hide their connection from the public eye.
There is some sort of overwhelming sentiment that the queer community is a modern trend. This way of thinking not only inherently limits the types of stories artists can tell, but invalidates the existence of many people throughout our history as a species. I wanted to raise the question, “Are the stories of historical minorities not worth preserving if they contradict the overwhelming sentiment of the time?” I believe that it is worth keeping the mere idea of these individuals alive, so we can cherish the memory of them in a time period that is more accepting.
The premise of A Knight to Remember is simple, it is a queer romance set in the medieval period. It follows Olive, a woman who competes in a jousting tournament disguised as a male in order to win the prize money. Along the way, she unknowingly wins the affection of a spectating princess Euphemie. Both connect over their mutual goal to keep living a double-life in the public eye and eventually start to grow closer in private.
My research on queer history had a deep impact on the creation of my project and inspired deliberate choices I made. I was captivated by pieces of existing queer medieval literature, like the 13th-century French tales of “Yde et Olive” and “Le Roman de Silence.” As homage to each story, I referenced each respectively by naming the main characters “Olive” and “Euphemie.” This project revolves around the appreciation of the lives and stories of medieval queer individuals, I made sure that it was present from all the echoes of plot points and names. My thesis is intended to be a love letter to bridge the time gap between these stories and a modern audience.