The English 'Loathly Lady' Tales: Boundaries, Traditions, Motifs

by Susan Carter (Editor), S Elizabeth Passmore (Editor)

Overview

Whereas 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580441230
Publisher:	Medieval Institute Publications
Publication date:	02/01/2008
Series:	Studies in Medieval Culture , #48
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.17(h) x (d)

About the Author

Susan Carter is a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland and contributes to the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice, the Art of Supervision and the supervision seminar series within the Centre for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. S. Elizabeth Passmore is Associate Professor of English at the University of Southern Indiana, and specializes in Chaucer, Ricardian Literature, and the history of the English language.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 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, The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle by Ellen M. Caldwell