Middle English Marvels
Subtitle
Magic, Spectacle, and Morality in the Fourteenth Century
This multidisciplinary volume illustrates how representations of magic in fourteenth-century romances link the supernatural, spectacle, and morality in distinctive ways.
Supernatural marvels represented in vivid visual detail are foundational to the characteristic Middle English genres of romance and hagiography. In "Middle English Marvels," Tara Williams explores the didactic and affective potential of secular representations of magic and shows how fourteenth-century English writers tested the limits of that potential. Drawing on works by Augustine, Gervase of Tilbury, Chaucer, and the anonymous poets of Sir Orfeo and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, among others, Williams examines how such marvels might convey moral messages within and beyond the narrative. She analyzes examples from both highly canonical and more esoteric texts and examines marvels that involve magic and transformation, invoke visual spectacle, and invite moral reflection on how one should relate to others. Within this shared framework, Williams finds distinct concerns―chivalry, identity, agency, and language―that intersect with the marvelous in significant ways.
Bio
Tara Williams is a professor of English and dean of Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University.
Praise for this book
A well-written, accessible, and insightful volume, and one of clear interest to scholars of Middle English literature, particularly of romance. And it may well prove very useful, too, for teaching. . . . The value of this study is in the further speculation on texts like those discussed it stimulates, and on larger questions about language and literary tradition―and the role wonder can play in our own ethical engagement with the world.
Lisa M. C. Weston Modern Philology
A universal appeal underlies this book's particular exploration of how Middle English literary spectacles function in a handful of 14th-century texts. . . . Williams contributes to the scholarly discussion material that will be useful for understanding traditional elements such as plot, character, and theme and also postmodern interest in identity and alterity.
A. P. Church Choice
