The Forest Of Medieval Romance

Corinne J. Saunders's exploration of the topos of the forest, a familiar and ubiquitous motif in the literature of the middle ages, is a broad study embracing a range of medieval and Elizabethan exts from the twelft to the sixteenth centuries: the roman d'antiquite, Breton lay and courtly romance, the hagiographical tradition of the Vita Merlini and the Queste del Saint Graal, Spenser and Shakespeare. Saunders identifies the forest as a primary romance landscape, as a place of adventure, love, and spiritual vision... offers a pleasurable overview of the narrative function of the forest as a literary landscape. Based on a close comparative and theoretically non-partisan] reading of a broad range of literary texts drawn from the Europeqan canon, Saunders's study explores the continuity and transformation of an important motif in the corpus of medieval literature. MODERN LANGUAGE REVIEWDr CORINNE SAUNDERSteaches in the Department of English at the University of Durham. BLURBEXTRACTED FROM TLS REVIEW] ...An immense tract, not only of medieval literature but of human experience is] engagingly introduced and presented here...Corinne Saunders considers first forests in reality (a reality which keeps breaking through in romance...). She looks also at the classical and biblical models including Virgil, Statius and Nebuchadnezzar...only then does she turn to the non-real and non-Classical, i.e. the medieval and romantic. Here she follows a clear chronological plan from twelfth to fifteenth centuries also covering] the allegorized landscape of Spenser and the lovers' woods of Arden or Athens in Shakespeare. Her text-by-text layout does justice to the variety of possibilities taken up by different authors; the forest as a place where men run mad and turn into animals, a place of voluntary suffering, a focus of significance in the Grail-quests, a lovers' bower; above all and centrally, the place where the knight is tested and defined, even (as with Perceval) created.

A wide-ranging collection on one of the most interesting features of medieval romance.

When Lady Magdalen Suffield finds a letter ordering her best friend's husband to commit murder, she flees into the woods. Pursued and injured, she collapses into the strong arms of Lord Cynric Woodrow, the local sheriff. As Cyn treats her wound in his forest home, he wonders why she's running from a man he considers an honorable friend. She refuses to confide in Cyn, but as his fascination with her grows, he must choose between loyalty to her or to his friend. Can Magdalen win his trust and stop the murder, or will the danger destroy far more than the love Cyn and Magdalen seem destined to share?

Unique in combining a comprehensive and comparative study of genre with a study of romance, this book constitutes a significant contribution to ongoing critical debates over the definition of romance and the genre and artistry of Malory's Morte Darthur. K.S. Whetter offers an original approach to these issues by prefacing a comprehensive study of romance with a wide-ranging and historically diverse study of genre and genre theory. In doing so Whetter addresses the questions of why and how romance might usefully be defined and how such an awareness of genre-and the expectations that come with such awareness-impact upon both our understanding of the texts themselves and of how they may have been received by their contemporary medieval audiences. As an integral part the study Whetter offers a detailed examination of Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur, a text usually considered a straightforward romance but which Whetter argues should be re-classified and reconsidered as a generic mixture best termed tragic-romance. This new classification is important in helping to explain a number of so-called inconsistencies or puzzles in Malory's text and further elucidates Malory's artistry. Whetter offers a powerful meditation upon genre, romance and the Morte which will be of interest to faculty, graduate students and undergraduates alike.

Amidst Grievances Against King and Kingdom that Spell Rebellion, A Knight and His Lady Rekindle Love in the Medieval Historical Romance, Within a Forest Dark, by Mary Ellen Johnson -- Medieval England during the reign of Edward III, from 1361 to 1376 -- With his belief in the Perfection of Knighthood challenged by battlefield atrocities, Matthew Hart returns to London, wishing to reunite with his first love, Margery Watson. Margery's cruel husband is now dead. As a wealthy widow, she has no intention of returning to the bonds of marriage. But she cannot turn away her handsome knight, no matter the depth of innocent blood he spilled in the name of honor and duty. As Matthew forces himself to fulfill feudal obligations, and Margery's unrest turns treasonous, the forces of king and kingdom may prove the lovers' ultimate undoing or their best hope. From the Publisher: Readers with a passion for history will appreciate the author's penchant for detail and accuracy. This story contains scenes of brutality which are true to the time and man's inhumanity. There are a limited number of sexual scenes and NO use of modern vulgarity. Fans of Elizabeth Chadwick, Bernard Cornwell and Philippa Gregory as well as Tamara Leigh and Suzan Tisdale will not want to miss this historically accurate series. "I was captivated by the beautiful covers from the start and that captivation just carried straight through from page one to the end of each book." ~Jeannette R Holtham "Steeped in history, Within a Forest Dark speaks of a brutal time in fourteenth century England and France. Ms Johnson's obvious knowledge and research of that era is astounding and she therefore has the ability to bring it alive for the reader." ~Margaret Watkins, eBook Discovery THE KNIGHTS OF ENGLAND, in series order The Lion and the Leopard A Knight There Was Within A Forest Dark A Child Upon The Throne Lords Among the Ruins

Publisher Description

Theoretically savvy and polemical arguments about a broad range of French, Middle English, and Mediterranean romances, that will revise scholars' and students' understanding of what medieval romances are and, more importantly, what they do to and for their readers.

Nothing could be further from Amaury de Vries’ expectations than joining his half-brother’s company of mercenaries in the wilds of Scotland. A knight and a champion at the joust, he expected to inherit a holding—until the man he has known as his father revealed a terrible truth and disavowed him. Left with nothing, Amaury rides to Kilderrick, where he loses his heart to a beautiful noblewoman in the forest. A practical man, he knows he has no right to court the lady, but when she is abducted, Amaury follows, determined to fulfill his knightly duty by aiding a damsel in distress. Elizabeth d’Acron has been a pawn and a prize, pursued for her father’s wealthy holding, and wants only to be desired for herself. Seized again, she vows she will surrender to no man—even the handsome knight who comes to her rescue. And truly, there could be no one more vexing than this confident yet inscrutable man, so concerned with duty that he could be wrought of stone—but Elizabeth soon learns that she can trust Amaury to defend her at any cost. She does not expect the seductive fire awakened by his touch, much less his conquest of her wary heart—but has she fallen in love with a man whose affections are already claimed? Snared between duty and passion, Amaury finds himself beguiled by the lady who challenges his every expectation, but knows he has little to offer her. But when Elizabeth is threatened by a former suitor who will not be refused, Amaury risks his all in her defense, hoping it will be enough. But can he intervene in time? And will love alone convince Elizabeth to place her hand in his for all time?