From chivalrous knights to damsels in distress, fire-breathing
dragons, and high-walled towers, the characteristics and
expectations we ascribe to stories of love and romance have their
origins in some of the most beautiful and intriguing books of the
Middle Ages. Encompassing Arthurian legends, Alexander the Great's
global conquests, sudden reversals of fortune, revenge, or
enchantment, images and tales of medieval romance still resonate
today. This beautifully illustrated history of romance legends
explores the conjunctions of chivalric violence, love, sex, and
piety that marked these striking and resonant stories. Through a
discussion of surviving manuscripts, printed books, and visual art,
"The Romance of the Middle Ages "examines the development of
romance as a literary genre, its place in medieval culture, and the
scribes and readers who copied, owned, and commented on romance
books--from magnificent illuminated manuscripts to personal
notebooks. It describes the dangerous pull of desire in works by
Dante, Chaucer, Malory, and many others, and traces the influence
of these stories through their rewriting in Shakespeare, Spenser,
Walter Scott, and Mark Twain, along with the medievalist visions of
Morris, Rossetti, and Burne-Jones. "The Romance of the Middle Ages"
then brings the story up to date by showing how later writers and
artists have responded to medieval romance, including Tolkien, C.
S. Lewis, and J. K. Rowling, and the very different knightly casts
of Monty Python and "Star Wars." "The Romance of the Middle Ages
"is an engaging analysis of stories that still have the power to
capture our imaginations long after 'happily ever after'.
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