Geometry.Net - Basic B Books: British Literature Arthurian

"A lively and thought-provoking study of gender in the Arthurian community. It is at once theoretically sophisticated and highly readable, full of insightful close readings yet conscious of larger patterns of analysis."--Laurie Finke, Kenyon College
Gender and the Chivalric Community in Malory’s Morte d’Arthur reveals, for the first time in a book-length study, how Thomas Malory’s unique approach to gender identity in his revisions of earlier Arthurian works produces a text entirely unlike others in the canon of medieval romance. Armstrong argues that issues of masculine and feminine gender identity play more critical, central roles in Le Morte d’Arthur than they do in Malory’s sources or other chivalric literature. Effectively merging contemporary gender and feminist criticism with careful analysis of Malory’s sources, Armstrong uncovers how gender ideals established in the early pages of the text subsequently inspire and mediate the action of the narrative; moreover, her analysis shows how such ideals become progressively more divisive and destructive as Le Morte d’Arthur moves toward its inevitable conclusion.
Recent articles and essays have shed much-needed light on various individual aspects of gender in Malory’s text. However, only a sustained, book-length analysis like Armstrong’s can fully articulate the relationships of gender to other chivalric ideals, such as mercy and martial prowess, that become increasingly complex as the narrative progresses. This study examines not only the most frequently read portions of the Morte but also those sections that often are regarded as extraneous to the primary narrative, such as the Tristram, Gareth, and Roman War episodes. By showing how gender operates in both the well-known and the less-appreciated portions of Malory’s work, Gender and the Chivalric Community demonstrates that his text possesses far more narrative unity than previously thought.
Armstrong provides a sophisticated yet accessible approach to the study of gender and its relation to other chivalric ideals in Le Morte d’Arthur, offering important insights for scholars and students of medieval romance, Malory, Arthurian literature, and gender and feminist criticism.
Dorsey Armstrong is assistant professor of medieval literature at Purdue University. Her work has most recently appeared in Arizona Studies in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and On Arthurian Women: Essays in Honor of Maureen Fries.

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42. The Company of Camelot: Arthurian Characters in Romance and Fantasy (Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy) by Charlotte Spivack, Roberta Lynne Staples
	Hardcover: 176 Pages (1994-12-30) list price: US$101.95 -- used & new: US$98.65 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0313279810 Canada \| United Kingdom \| Germany \| France \| Japan
Editorial Review Product Description This book deals with the eight major figures in the Arthurian legends and how they have been individually represented in literature from its beginnings up to the present day. The characters discussed are: Arthur the king, his queen Guenevere, his wizard Merlin, his half-sister Morgan le Fay, his faithful seneschal Sir Kay, his warrior nephew Gawain, his knight and rival Lancelot, and his incestuous son and nemesis Mordred. These characters are first identified in terms of their medieval origins, then explored in their varied depictions in modern fantasy fiction. The pattern that emerges is largely one of polarization of personality. The first study of Arthurian materials to focus specifically on the characterization of individuals, this book also achieves an original perspective on the evolution of individual characters from mythic prototypes. ... Read more

44. Violence and Vengeance in Middle Welsh and Middle English Narrative: Owein and Ywain and Gawain by Michael Cichon
	Hardcover: 249 Pages (2009-09-30) list price: US$109.95 -- used & new: US$109.95 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0773446583 Canada \| United Kingdom \| Germany \| France \| Japan
Editorial Review Product Description This study examines the presence and extent of legal and feud elements in the Middle Welsh Owein and the Middle English Ywain and Gawain. The process of feud and the concern for honor, along with the sentiment of reciprocity and exchange which inform them, are so integral to the cultures which produced Owein and Ywain and Gawain that familiarity with this mentalite is essential to fully appreciate and understand the literature. A ribbon of insult and redress runs through each romance: the process of fall and redemption, the education or re-education of the hero present in these romances is informed by notions of insult and redress which characterize societies that feud. The Welsh were a feuding people, and the text has direct legal references. Feud provides a rationale for adventures easily understood by a contemporary audience because that audience itself practiced the behaviors depicted in the literature, or at least understood the sentiment which encouraged them. This work will appeal to scholars of medieval literature, medieval history, and the history of violence in the British Isles. ... Read more

45. Myth and National Identity in Nineteenth-Century Britain: The Legends of King Arthur and Robin Hood by Stephanie Barczewski
	Hardcover: 288 Pages (2000-04-06) list price: US$150.00 -- used & new: US$75.00 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 019820728X Canada \| United Kingdom \| Germany \| France \| Japan
Editorial Review Product Description Scholars continue to find that fictional narratives provide rich insight into the historical development of a modern national consciousness. In nineteenth-century Britain, the legends of King Arthur and Robin Hood played an important role in construction of contemporary national identity. These two legends provide important windows on British culture and draw from very different perspectives. King Arthur and Robin Hood have traditionally been diametrically opposed in their ideological orientation, with Arthur at the pinnacle of the social and political hierarchy and Robin Hood completely outside conventional hierarchical structures. The fact that two such different figures could simultaneously function as British national heroes suggests that nineteenth-century British nationalism did not represent a single set of values and ideas, but rather that it was forced to assimilate a variety of competing points of view. ... Read more

48. Gender and the Chivalric Community in Malory's Morte d'Arthur by Dorsey Armstrong
	Hardcover: 288 Pages (2003-12-31) list price: US$59.95 -- used & new: US$50.00 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0813026865 Canada \| United Kingdom \| Germany \| France \| Japan
Editorial Review Product Description "A lively and thought-provoking study of gender in the Arthurian community. It is at once theoretically sophisticated and highly readable, full of insightful close readings yet conscious of larger patterns of analysis."--Laurie Finke, Kenyon College Gender and the Chivalric Community in Malory’s Morte d’Arthur reveals, for the first time in a book-length study, how Thomas Malory’s unique approach to gender identity in his revisions of earlier Arthurian works produces a text entirely unlike others in the canon of medieval romance. Armstrong argues that issues of masculine and feminine gender identity play more critical, central roles in Le Morte d’Arthur than they do in Malory’s sources or other chivalric literature. Effectively merging contemporary gender and feminist criticism with careful analysis of Malory’s sources, Armstrong uncovers how gender ideals established in the early pages of the text subsequently inspire and mediate the action of the narrative; moreover, her analysis shows how such ideals become progressively more divisive and destructive as Le Morte d’Arthur moves toward its inevitable conclusion. Recent articles and essays have shed much-needed light on various individual aspects of gender in Malory’s text. However, only a sustained, book-length analysis like Armstrong’s can fully articulate the relationships of gender to other chivalric ideals, such as mercy and martial prowess, that become increasingly complex as the narrative progresses. This study examines not only the most frequently read portions of the Morte but also those sections that often are regarded as extraneous to the primary narrative, such as the Tristram, Gareth, and Roman War episodes. By showing how gender operates in both the well-known and the less-appreciated portions of Malory’s work, Gender and the Chivalric Community demonstrates that his text possesses far more narrative unity than previously thought. Armstrong provides a sophisticated yet accessible approach to the study of gender and its relation to other chivalric ideals in Le Morte d’Arthur, offering important insights for scholars and students of medieval romance, Malory, Arthurian literature, and gender and feminist criticism. Dorsey Armstrong is assistant professor of medieval literature at Purdue University. Her work has most recently appeared in Arizona Studies in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and On Arthurian Women: Essays in Honor of Maureen Fries. ... Read more

50. Arthurian Women: A Casebook (Arthurian Characters and Themes)
	Hardcover: 424 Pages (1996-03-01) list price: US$115.00 -- used & new: US$113.17 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0815306237 Canada \| United Kingdom \| Germany \| France \| Japan
Editorial Review Product Description Featuring three original and 14 classic essays, this volume examines literary representations of women in Arthuriana and how women artists have viewed them.The essays discuss the female characters in Arthurian legend, medieval and modern readers of the legend, modern critics and the modern women writers who have recast the Arthurian inheritance, and finally women visual artists who have used the material of the Arthurian story.All the essays concentrate interpretation on a female creator and the work.This collection contains a useful bibliography of material devoted to female characters in Arthurian literature. ... Read more

51. Arthurian Localities by John S. Stuart Glennie
	Paperback: 148 Pages (2003-08-10) list price: US$20.95 -- used & new: US$13.43 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0766177874 Canada \| United Kingdom \| Germany \| France \| Japan
Editorial Review Product Description 1869. This book is Essay I of the Arthuriana Or Essays on the Arthurian Romance Cycle as the Formal Material of the New Poesy series. It represents the Arthurian localities, their historical origin, chief country and Fingalian relations. The author believes this article was the first to show that Southern Scotland and the English Border is the chief country of Arthurian localities, and to point out the relation of this district to that of the Fingalian topography of Scotland. Partial Contents: historical origin of Arthurian localities; chief country of Arthurian localities; eastern, southern, western divisions; Fingallan relations of Arthurian localities; the new Hellas; geological relations; list of localities; notes. ... Read more

52. A Companion to Wolfram's Parzival (Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture)
	Hardcover: 318 Pages (1999-04-01) list price: US$90.00 -- used & new: US$81.74 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 1571131523 Canada \| United Kingdom \| Germany \| France \| Japan
Editorial Review Product Description Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival expands and transforms the Arthurian tradition into a grand depiction of the medieval cosmos around 1200. Standing between clerical and chivalric cultures and articulating the interests and values of both, Wolfram produced the most popular vernacular work in medieval Germany and one of the most vibrant of the High Middle Ages. The brilliance, boldness, and astonishing originality of Parzival, along with the allure of its elusive author and his enigmatic grail, have continued to fascinate modern audiences since the nineteenth century. And in the late 20th century, as the study of literature becomes increasingly interdisciplinary, Wolfram's masterpiece continues to hold forth a seemingly inexhaustible supply of cultural knowledge and insights. The original essays in this volume provide a definitive treatment in English of significant aspects of Parzival (Wolfram's modes of narrative presentation, his relationship to his sources, his portrayal of the grail), and of some of the broader social and cultural issues it raises (the theology of the Fall, the status of chivalric self-assertion, the characterization of women, the modern reception of Parzival). These and other essays point in new directions for the future study of Parzival, and demonstrate that the poem deservedly occupies a central position in our understanding of the High Middle Ages. ... Read more

55. Lancelot and Guinevere: A Casebook (Arthurian Characters and Themes)
	Paperback: 392 Pages (2002-01-02) list price: US$38.95 -- used & new: US$33.05 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0415939119 Canada \| United Kingdom \| Germany \| France \| Japan
Editorial Review Product Description Beginning with an introduction that examines the portrayal of Lancelot and Guinevere from their origins to the present day, the sixteen essays in this collection deal with such varied topics as feminist readings of the characters' representations, the depiction of the lovers in medieval manuscript illuminations, in film, and in other visual arts. ... Read more

56. Gawain: A Casebook (Arthurian Characters and Themes) by Harvey Schwartz
	Hardcover: Pages (2001-03-01) list price: US$95.00 Isbn: 0815335180 Canada \| United Kingdom \| Germany \| France \| Japan

58. The Grail: A Casebook (Arthurian Characters and Themes)
	Hardcover: 300 Pages (1999-11-01) list price: US$125.00 Isbn: 0815306482 Canada \| United Kingdom \| Germany \| France \| Japan
Editorial Review Product Description Whether it is a cup of plenty or the container of Christ's blood, the Holy Grail has always been a symbol of aspiration and longing. This volume surveys representations of the Holy Grail in literature, art, and film from the Middle Ages to the present day. A substantial introduction tracing the development of the legend is followed by a 200-item bibliography and twenty critical essays, seven of which have been written specially for this volume. The motifs of the Grail, the Quest, the Waste Land, and the Fisher King are explored, as well as the characters of Perceval, Lancelot, Galahad, and Joseph of Arimathea. Specific topics discussed include the origins and symbolism of the legend; the visual treatment of the legend in medieval manuscript illumination and in pre-Raphaelite painting; and the narrative treatment of the legend by medieval writers in French, German, and English, by nineteenth- and twentieth-century poets, and by twentieth-century novelists and film-makers. ... Read more

60. The Song of Arthur: Celtic Tales from the King's Court by John Matthews
	Paperback: 196 Pages (2002-10-01) list price: US$19.95 -- used & new: US$2.00 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0835608093 Canada \| United Kingdom \| Germany \| France \| Japan
Editorial Review Product Description These seventeen stories first published in book form stunningly present the Celtic legends and myths of the Arthurian quest for the Grail. ... Read more