Synopsis

The heroine rejects a rich suitor, Lord Fenix/Phenix, for her poor true love, Tom Potts. Her angry father makes arrangements for the wedding. She sends word to Tom. He sends back word that he will be there and goes to his lord, asking for assistance. The lord is generous with him. Tom interrupts the wedding procession to challenge the groom. He wins. Her father agrees to their marriage and makes Tom his heir.

Motifs

The unequal match is a very common motif in ballads and romance

Romance (genre)

As a literary genre of high culture, romance or chivalric romance is a style of heroic prose and verse narrative that was popular in the aristocratic circles of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a knight errant portrayed as...

s, such as Richie Story

Richie Story

-Synopsis:Of a group of sisters , one falls in love with Richie Story and rejects an earl for him...

and King Cophetua

Cophetua

"The King and the Beggar-maid" is a Medieval romance which tells the legend of the prince Cophetua and his unorthodox love for the beggar Penelophon .-The legend:...

.