Narrative Subversion in Medieval LiteratureA story that follows a simple trajectory is seldom worth telling. But the unexpected overturning of narrative progress creates complexity and interest, directing the reader's attention to the most powerful elements of a story. Exile, for example, upsets a protagonist's hopes for a happy earthly life, emphasizing spiritual perception instead. Waking life interrupts dreams, just as dreams may redirect how one lives. Focusing on medieval literature, this study explores how narrative subversion works in such well known stories as Beowulf, Piers Plowman, Le Morte D'Arthur, The Canterbury Tales, Troylus and Criseyde, "Voluspa" and other Old Norse sagas, Grail quest romances, and many others. |
Contents
A Step Toward a Simple Theory of Narrative | 1 |
Subversive Threads in the Medieval Narrative Labyrinth | 15 |
2Narrative Subversion and the Solutionless Problem | 38 |
3An Aesthetics of Subversion in Beowulfian Narrative | 49 |
Dryht Allegory and Old English Exile Poems | 62 |
Death and the Deador Notin Völuspá and Some Sagas | 76 |
Subverting a Happy Ending | 88 |
Penance and Subverting Penance in Medieval Literature | 103 |
Subverting the Worlds Greatest Knight | 113 |
9Troilus and Cressida and Subverting Genre | 124 |
Gavin Douglass Subversive Eneados | 157 |
Chapter Notes | 167 |
| 177 | |
| 183 | |
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Common terms and phrases
achieve Achilles adds adventures allow appears Arthur asks audience battle beauty become begins Beowulf better Book calls characters Chaucer Christian comes course court creates Cressid dead deal death earthly English experience fails fall fight final follow Galahad Gawain genre give Grail greatest Greek Hamlet hero holy honor hope human idea implies keep kill kind king knight Lancelot later lead least leaves lines living lord means medieval moral move narrative narrator nature never notion offers once pass penance Perceval perfect perhaps play plot poem poet present Press probably problem quest reader reading remains Romance saga says scene seek sense serves Shakespeare shows sorrow spiritual story subverts suffering suggests tale tell theme tion traditional tragedy translation Troilus turns understand virtue whole