It is influenced by the Roman de la Rose in describing the onset of love in terms of allegory and in its frequent use of the first person.

The title is derived from a central scene where the damsel shares a pear which she has peeled with her teeth with the lover.

The full-page miniatures depict famous lovers from literature, including Tristan and Isolde, Cliges and Fenice, Pyramus and Thisbe and Paris and Helen.

The work presumably enjoyed limited success, and its reception did not extend beyond the early 14th century.

Two copies of the original text survive, dated to the late 13th or early 14th century (Ms. fr.