[1] Sir Degrevant is the "perfect romance hero":[2] intent on hunting and adventures, he is young, handsome, and strong; most importantly to the plot, he is not interested in the love of a woman.
Degrevant hurries back from Granada, repairs the fences and the other damage done, then addresses a letter to the earl seeking legal redress.
The lovers meet secretly in her splendidly decorated bedroom (it contains paintings of saints and angels, and such details as glass from Westphalia and "curtain cords made of mermaids' hair won by Duke Betyse,"[3] a reference to a duke from a fourteenth-century chanson de geste Les Voeux du paon[4]), but they remain chaste until marriage.
[8] The poem survives in two manuscripts from the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century, the Findern Anthology and the Lincoln Thornton MS.
The effects of this romance, supported by skillful construction, a tone perfectly maintained, characters realistically conceived and developed, and a tolerably incisive narrative, is entirely good and persuasive.
Davenport analyzes the poet's popular verse form and contrasts it with the broad vocabulary used in the poem, and identifies literary borrowing from "alliterative poetry, love-lyric, and court allegory, as well as literary romance"; he concludes that the result of the poet's skill in "mixing" of themes and styles makes for "an unusually well-constructed and unified narrative.
The titular hero is also a landowner, with all the pursuant cares, and is called back from his crusade by the news that his men and his property have been attacked by his unchivalrous neighbour.
Realistic elements (as opposed to literary convention) also play a part in the plot—for instance, Degrevant ambushes the earl, and uses arrows as an offensive weapon; there is never a formal duel between the two opponents.
Diamond summarizes:What women want is a handsome, valiant, wealthy and noble lover, triumph over fierce paternal opposition, a splendid wardrobe, and a fabulous room of their own.
What men want is a noble reputation, a huge deer park in which to spend their days hunting, extensive and prosperous estates, triumph over would-be oppressors, and a beautiful opinionated heiress.
[15] Moreover, she notes after a linguistic analysis that even Melydor's very language (which has more slips and meaningless tags than Degrevant's), which Sylvester qualifies as "powerless speech," serves to deny her an independent and powerful status.