How do people change? Longing for personal growth and transformation is a central theme of our times. Psychotherapy seeks to change the dynamics behind people's symptoms and conflicts. Writers, too, are fascinated by this theme, and have explored it frequently in their stories and characters. In this book, Barbara and Richard Almond, both psychoanalysts, explore a variety of novels that describe internal, personal change. They discover that there are fascinating parallels between the processes that lead to change in literary characters and the mechanisms observed in psychotherapeutic change.

From Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" to Frances Hodgson Burnett's "The Secret Garden" to Anne Tyler's "IThe Accidental Tourist," the plot begins with a character struggling with personality limitations. A new person appears in the story; a bond is formed with the central character. In the relationship that follows, the two struggle. Confrontational and loving interactions lead the protagonist through a process of gradual change. The authors delineate a therapeutic narrative: the plot of change in both psychotherapy and literature. By comparing a variety of novels, they elaborate the elements of this therapeutic narrative and draw provocative conclusions about the mechanisms of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis.

Evidence from manuscripts, tapestries, paintings and written documents shows the female huntress in action. Hunting for sport, food and raw materials was a universal activity in the Middle Ages. However, the medieval hunting manuals and treatises written by male authors, as well as narratives and romances, present hunting as the exclusive leisure prerogative of gently-born educated men. The presence and various roles of women are ignored, as is any involvement of the commons. Here, using evidence drawn from both contemporary documents and images, particularly from illuminated manuscripts, tapestries, paintings, carvings, engravings and prints, the author shows clearly that women from all ranks of society were actively engaged in hunting in a wider sense, from aristocratic ladies pursuing deer on horseback with hounds and shooting driven game, to peasant women netting birds, ferreting conies, poaching and distributing venison. Women are often depicted in illustrations alongside men, usually as their companions, assistants or significantly as learners; but they are also shown hunting or hawking alone, or with female companions. Beautifully illustrated, this revealing study of a previously unexplored aspect of women's roles is an invaluable addition to our understanding of the dynamics of the medieval community.

How do people change? Longing for personal growth and transformation is a central theme of our times. Psychotherapy seeks to change the dynamics behind people's symptoms and conflicts. Writers, too, are fascinated by this theme, and have explored it frequently in their stories and characters. In this book, Barbara and Richard Almond, both psychoanalysts, explore a variety of novels that describe internal, personal change. They discover that there are fascinating parallels between the processes that lead to change in literary characters and the mechanisms observed in psychotherapeutic change.

From Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" to Frances Hodgson Burnett's "The Secret Garden" to Anne Tyler's "IThe Accidental Tourist," the plot begins with a character struggling with personality limitations. A new person appears in the story; a bond is formed with the central character. In the relationship that follows, the two struggle. Confrontational and loving interactions lead the protagonist through a process of gradual change. The authors delineate a therapeutic narrative: the plot of change in both psychotherapy and literature. By comparing a variety of novels, they elaborate the elements of this therapeutic narrative and draw provocative conclusions about the mechanisms of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis.

Myths and misunderstandings about medieval hunting are dispelled, including the persistent view that it was exclusively an aristocratic and male pursuit Hunting was a major economic and leisure activity throughout the European Middle Ages, and while aristocratic practices have featured in studies of romantic and narrative literature, hunting in its wider sense, across the social spectrum with attendant male and female roles, has largely been ignored by modern medieval historians. This study brings vividly to life the universality and centrality of hunting to medieval societies, both as an economic necessity and as an expression of medieval humanity's almost atavistic sense of oneness with nature. Using a wide variety of contemporary textual and art historical evidence, this study demonstrates convincingly that hunting, including fishing and all manner of poaching, was enjoyed by all classes, and by women as well as men. It provides a detailed and captivating picture of a pre-urban world from which the modern age has much to learn in terms of land use and conservation.