Gender

In the examples offered thus far, variations of the term cointe have been used to describe both masculine and feminine figures. in the first part of the Roman de Rose, where it is used to describe stylish appearance, it is applied to men’s comportment approximately eleven times, to feminine figures five times. These proportions are reversed in Jean de Meun’s part of the poem, where the Unhappy Husband frequently uses the term negatively. In the second half, it is used to describe women thirteen times, men four times, in Lecoy’s edition. These proportions suggest that cointe was not reserved for one gender in the way that “handsome” is primarily masculine and “pretty” or “beautiful” feminine in modern English.

In the Roman de la Rose, the god of Love’s frequent use of the term cointe was directed at the Lover and more generally at young men seeking to please in courtly settings. It is repeatedly used in the first part of the poem in association with courtly young men. For example, the god of Love’s minion, Douz Regart, held two Turkish bows: the one designed for sending out good arrows was smooth and painted with pleasant scenes of ladies on all sides, and “gay and cointe young men” (lines 919-20). Deduit, the handsome young proprietor of the garden of love, was “biaus et lonc et droiz” (handsome, tall and straight, 799), as well as “cointe... et de bel ator” (804). The word in this context reinforces the general effect of Deduit’s fine, well-formed, well-frocked appearance. Keeping oneself cointe is among the top three commandments of the god of Love in his final brief summary of his “sermon”:

Qui d’Amors veut fere son mestre, cortois et sanz orgueil doit estre, cointe se tiegne et envoisiez

Et de largesce soit presiez.251

Whoever would make Love his master must be courteous and free of pride, keep himself cointe and bright, and be dedicated to generosity.

Over five hundred lines of advice boil down to four virtues: courtesy, humility, generosity, and cointerie. clearly Guillaume de Lorris saw it as one of the most significant keys to a young man’s success in finding a lady and acceptance by superiors at court.

Other romances affirm this hypothesis. Amadas, for instance, is “cointement caucies” (line 1639), his chausses fit stylishly. Flamenca's Guillem de Nevers was similarly well dressed, as seen in the passage cited in the Introduction. Further discussion of the translation of the cointerie commandment into actual garments will appear in the next chapter. The word is not generally used for old men. The association with ambitious youth could be seen as evidence for a fashion system’s polarization of the older and younger generations, as the young are those who favor novelty as a way of seeking out a social place for themselves.