Description
Book SynopsisTwelve essays address a central concern of medieval romance, the matter of identity.Identity is a central concern of medieval romance. Here it is approached through essays on issues of origin and parentage, transformation and identity, and fundamental questions of what constitutes the human. The construction of knightly identity through education and testing is explored, and placed in relation to female identity; the significance of the motif of doubling is studied. Shifting perceptions of identities are traced through the histories of specific texts, and the identity of romance itself is the subject of several essays discussing ideas of genre (the overlap between romance and hagiography is a theme linking a number of articles in the collection). Medieval romanceis shown as a marketable commodity in the printed output of William Copland, and as an opportunity for literary experimentation in the work of John Metham. The texts discussed include:
Chevalere Assigne, Sir Gowther, Sir Ysumbras, Beves of Hamtoun, Robert of Cisyle, the
Fierabras romances, Breton lays, Thomas's
Tristan and Marie de France's
Eliduc. Contributors: W.A. DAVENPORT, JOANNE CHARBONNEAU, CORINNE SAUNDERS, AMANDA HOPKINS, MORGAN DICKSON, MARIANNE AILES, JUDITH WEISS, JOHN SIMONS, RHIANNON PURDIE, MALDWYN MILLS, A.S.G. EDWARDS, ROGER DALRYMPLE.
Trade Review[Readers] will find a number of solid investigations that contribute to the field of Middle English studies as well as several comparative readings of a variety of interesting works.The collection is most useful to generalists in any field of medieval literature. * ARTHURIANA *
Table of ContentsThe Matter of Identity in Medieval Romance - Abbreviation and the Education of the Hero in Chevalere Assigne - W A Davenport From Devil to Saint: Transformations in Sir Gowther - Joanne A Charbonneau Desire, Will and Intention in Sir Beves of Hamptoun - Corinne Saunders Female Vulnerability as Catalyst in the Middle English Breton Lays - Amanda Hopkins Female Doubling and Male Identity in Medieval Romance - Morgan Dickson Ganelon in the Middle English Fierabras Romances - Marianne Ailes Emperors and Antichrists: Reflections of Empire in Insular Narrative, 1130-1250 - Judith Weiss A Byzantine Identity for Robert of Cisyle - John Simons Generic Identity and the Origins of Sir Isumbras - Generic Titles in Bodleian Library MS Douce 261 and British Library MS Egerton 3132A - Maldwyn Mills William Copland and the Identity of Printed Middle English Romance - A S G Edwards Amoryus and Cleopes: John Metham's Metamorphosis of Chaucer and Ovid - Roger Dalrymple
