Character Clues

Character Analysis

Physical Appearances

The way people look and dress says a lot about their characters in The Book of the Lion… or does it?

Otto likes to dress a bit more decadently than someone of his status should: "My master loved a touch of luxury, and he wore a coney-skin ruff at his church-day collar" (1.10). Otto's taste for style comes at a cost, though. He steals from the king to afford his finery, which ultimately costs him his hand, physically marking him as a thief for life.

Sir Nigel, on the other hand, has a kind of earthy, non-fussy look to him: "He wore a tunic similar to mine, and if anything his was more begrimed, but with house soil, not with blood" (3.30). Like his slightly neglected appearance, Nigel isn't one to fuss over the finer points. He's just "an ordinary fighting man. […] A worthless man" (34.34), as he says himself. We know he's not worthless, but his garb shows just how humble he can be.

Rannulf is a different kind of example. He's mistakenly characterized based on his appearance. Edmund first refers to him as "the bearded fighting man with the scarred mouth" (7.4). Doesn't invoke the safest, warmest feeling, does it? But it turns out that he's really quite different than his scary looks suggest: "'Men misjudge me', he said peacefully'" (25.24). Behind that fearsome facade is really a kind, peaceful soul.

In other words, when it comes to appearances in this book, pay attention—but also take them with a grain of salt.

Social Status

The Middle Ages are all about class. No, we're not talking about classiness, we're talking about social class. It is a time of little-to-no social mobility, where the hierarchy of power is pretty firmly in place. Richard the Lionheart calls the shots, no matter his merits, since he's the king. And Edmund is used to following orders since he's always been poor and in service to people with more power than him.

Beyond this, though, social status doesn't tell us too much. It gives no indication of how good a person is or how well he'll hold up in a fight (compare Edmund and Hubert, for instance). Instead it simply clues us into how much power they hold.