In the opening verses of the Jeu de la feuillée, a character called Adam proclaims his desire to leave behind his wife and return to his studies, first undertaken in Paris. He begins by asking whether his friends have noticed the change in his clothing to the habit of a cleric; the miniature that accompanies this speech in the play in W depicts Adam in a scholar's robes. In the weighty alexandrines of epic, the play's protagonist bids adieu to his compatriots in Arras and claims he will depart for Paris to return to his studies; the plot continues as his friends dispute his decision, arguing in comic and often parodic fashion that he should remain in Arras. Written around 1277, the Jeu de la feuillée contains so many accurate historical references to political and social events known to have occurred in Arras that it was often interpreted as an autobiographical account of the life of its author, Adam de la Halle.