Description
Book SynopsisWhereas some literary motifs such as the tyrant, the beggar, and the crone have equivalents in the real world, the Loathly Lady is a creature of the imagination. Yet she is not merely a whimsical fantasy. This volume concentrates on the medieval English Loathly Lady tales, which develop the motif as a vehicle for social ideology. One of the primary agendas of this collection is to promote the non-canonical Loathly Ladies as worthwhile subjects for scholarly consideration. The examinations here of the medieval English Loathly Lady tales engage with a myriad of concerns, including anxieties about virginity and sex, power and assimilation, beauty and beastliness. These broad examinations of this enigmatic literary motif are an excellent contribution to the field and will be of great interest to scholars.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements
Abbreviations
Preface
Introduction by S. Elizabeth Passmore and Susan Carter
Through the Counsel of a Lady: The Irish and English Loathly Lady Tales and the "Mirrors for Princes' Genre" by S. Elizabeth Passmore
The Politics of
Strengthe and
Vois in Gower's Loathly Lady Tale by R. F. Yeager
Sovereignty through the Lady: "The Wife of Bath's Tale" and the Queenship of Anne of Bohemia by Elizabeth M. Biebel-Stanley
A Hymenation of Hags by Susan Carter
Folklore and Powerful Women in Gower's "Tale of Florent" by Russell A. Peck
Controlling the Loathly Lady, or What Really Frees Dame Ragnelle by Paul Gaffney
"The Marriage of Sir Gawain": Piecing the Fragments Together by Stephanie Hollis
A Jungian Approach to the Ballad "King Henry" by Mary Edwards Shaner
Repainting the Lion: "The Wife of Bath's Tale" and a Traditional British Ballad by Lynn M. Wollstadt
Why Dame Ragnell Had to Die: Feminine Usurpation of Male Authority in "The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell" by Mary Leech
Brains or Beauty: Limited Sovereignty in the Loathly Lady Tales "The Wife of Bath's Tale," "Thomas of Erceldoune," and "The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle" by Ellen M. Caldwell
