Analysis of the structure of traditional stories and fairytales,
bringing out their shared characteristics, and showing why they
remain so powerful and resonant today. Many famous stories, from
the Old Testament, medieval romance and folktale, to Shakespeare's
tragedies and comedies and even some great novels, present apparent
inconsistencies or absurdities when judged as plausible
representations of 'reality'. Yet the experience of many
generations of readers and listeners is that such stories take a
powerful hold on the imagination and memory, and create a strong
impression on coherent significance. Symbolic Stories shows why the
structure of these tales is so significant, and why they are
repeated, both in the original and with variations, down the ages.
Professor Brewer reveals new aspects of the stories themselves by
elucidating the implicit and symbolic meanings that lie below the
literal narrative. The stories discussed are those that are
especially concerned with the processes of growing up and coming to
maturity. They are told from the point of view of the emerging
individual as he or she passes through the rites de passage that
allow disengagement from parents, self-realisation, the
establishment of new relationships, and integration with society.
The bookdemonstrates certain characteristic themes and structures
in these traditional stories, but is far from reducing them to a
single formula. One of the main purposes is to show how selected
stories of great artistic value establishtheir own individual
meanings within the general pattern. There are new interpretations
of the famous romances, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and
Malory's Tale of Sir Gareth, and of other romances.
Shakespeare'sremarkable portrayals throughout his career of various
aspects of the family drama are discussed, and the essence of a new
theory of tragedy and comedy is suggested. The extreme type of
traditional story in Europe is seen as the fairy tale, which is
analysed to show how fundamentally such narrative differs from the
novel, but Mansfield Park and Great Expectations are explored in
detail to show their equivocal relationships to the tradition. The
book will appeal to all those who are interested in the structure
of narrative, whether from the point of view of literature,
psychology or folklore. The late Professor Derek Brewer was Master
of Emmanuel College Cambridge and Reader in Medieval English
Literature in the University of Cambridge. He published numerous
books and articles, especially on Chaucer, but on all periods of
English literature.
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