Resentment of the ruling Norman French elite and especially of the imposition of their language emerges in English literature very soon after the 11th c. Norman Conquest, by the mid 13 th c. the Chronicler Robert of Gloucester is lamenting social dominance of Norman-French and the marginalisation of the English language

//Vor bote a man conne frenss men telth of him lute

Ac lowe men holdeth to engliss & her owne speche ghute.

Iche wene ther ne beth in al the world contreyes none

That ne holdeth to hor owe spech bote engelond one//

(approx. translation:

'Unless a man speaks French people think little of him,

only the lower classes maintain the English language well,

I think England is the only country that does not speak her own

language'

By the time of the dynastic struggles of the Hundred Years war, during which the English court has begun to switch in part to using the English language, the descendants of those Norman conquerors have undergone a process of assimilation and of adopting an English identity to distinguish themselves from their French rivals on the continent ...

So we get the anonymously composed (ironically in Latin rather than in English) 'inventive against France' after the battle of Crécy in 1346 in which the French are described as 'feminine', 'viper-like' 'hypocritical' 'cunning' 'callous' and 'arrogant'

This general theme continues through the Middle ages, with 'French' often being a byword for duplicity and especially sexual infidelity and licentiousness, as can be seen in the 14th c. poem 'Gawain and the Green Knight' and the 15th c. Chester mystery plays.

There is even an expression in Middle English 'French fare' which roughly translates as 'silver tongued' meaning being able to persuade with ornate, often dishonest language.

This trend continues in to Early Middle English with characters such as Shakespeare's Doctor Caius in the Merry Wives of Windsor and it simply never goes away.

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I wouldn't want to give the impression that portrayals of the French in English literature are universally negative, the truth is far more complex and multi faceted, the French are as often admired for their perceived cultural sophistication and liberal outlook as they are condemned for negative qualities. The negative stereotyping is concentrated upon the English class system and the concept of social climbing and acquiring French as a tool of advancement (the language of diplomacy etc.) as much as it is on the French or France itself.

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I should also add that the stereotype exists in France itself that Parisians are arrogant, which is mirrored in many other nations with major conurbations, the same may be whispered of New Yorkers in the States or of Londoners in the U.K for example.