To me, methought, who waited with a crowd,
There came a bark that, blowing forward, bore
King Arthur, like a modern gentleman
Of stateliest port; and all the people cried,
"Arthur is come again: he cannot die."

"Morte d'Arthur" (1842)
Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Friday, March 22, 2013

Hebert's New Book on Morgan le Fay

Just released (a revision of the author's 2008 dissertation). Looks like a fairly comprehensive study:

Morgan le Fay, Shapeshifter (Studies in Arthurian and Courtly Cultures)
Jill M. Hebert

Palgrave Macmillan, March 2013
ISBN: 978-1-137-02264-6, ISBN10: 1-137-02264-7
5.500 x 8.500 inches
240 pages
Hardcover $85.00


This study re-examines the appearances and absences of Morgan le Fay in early medieval through contemporary Arthurian sources, arguing that she illustrates the concerns of each era even as she continually evades and confounds social and gender expectations. Morgan's ambiguous nature transcends archetypes and limited definitions as she challenges traditional ideas of femininity, monstrousness, resistance, identity and social expectations for women and men alike.


Contents:

Introduction: To be a Shapeshifter
1. For the Healing of His Wounds? The Seeds of Ambiguity in Latin Sources
2. Sisters of the Forest: Morgan and Her Analogues in Arthurian Romance
3. Morgan in Malory
4. Morgan's Presence-in-Absence in Renaissance, Romantic, and Victorian Works
5. Imprisoned by Ideology: Modern and Fantasy Portrayals
Conclusion: Beyond Limits


Praise:

"Hebert's book will have widespread interest, especially for advanced undergraduates and graduate students majoring in literature and/or women's studies, art history, and media studies. It will serve as a resource for Hebert's analysis and judgments regarding various works and also as a model of one scholarly way to examine a magnetic character - Morgan le Fay - over several centuries of primary works and through various historical, philological, and myth-centered approaches as well as various genres." - Sue Ellen Holbrook, Professor of English, Southern Connecticut State University


Jill M. Hebert is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Saint Mary, USA.

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