Description
Book SynopsisThe Scottish poet, author, and Christian minister George MacDonald is widely known as an inspiration for the works of C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Lewis Carroll, among others. Nineteenth century photographs of MacDonald present a forbidding visage, embodying Victorian-era solemnity. Yet behind the facade, as Daniel Gabelman writes, lived a whimsical and fantastical muse. Indeed, MacDonald imbued theological weight through childlike lightheartedness. Gabelman ably reveals in MacDonald's writings a bridge between playfulness and seriousness in the modern imagination.
George MacDonald delivers a balanced reading of its subject that ultimately lends a new theological and literary weight to whimsy.
Trade Review...for anyone interested in the study of fairy tales, or in theology, Gabelman's book comes as a much-needed breath of clear air....". - Dr. John Patrick Pazdziora, University of St Andrews, VII
"Gabelman uses explanations of relevant context to clarify and inform, rather than to lecture or instruct. He offers a detailed yet articulate expansion of knowledge, and this eloquence will enlighten both the erudite scholar and the lay reader." - Christine Chettle,
The Lion and the Unicorn"…extremely worthwhile…" - Bonnie Gaarden,
MythloreTable of Contents
- Introduction: The Gravity of a Child at Play
- Part I: Modalities of Levity
- 1 The Levity of Saints and Angels
- 2 Ecstasy and Folly
- Lightening the Self for Its Journey
- 3 Vanity and Play
- Liberation from Seriousness for Metamorphosis
- 4 Carnival and Sabbath
- A Time for Renewal, Rebellion, and Revelation
- Part II: MacDonald's Fairytale Levity
- 5 "Never so Real as When They Are Solemn"
- Victorians and Seriousness
- 6 Time
- Fairyland's Festive Sabbath
- 7 Space
- Fairyland's Ecstatic Cosmology
- 8 Transformation
- "Shall not the Possible Become the Real?"
- Conclusion: The Haunting Force of Levity
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
