Magic and Meaning: The Poetics of Romance

Description: An examination of some works commonly classified as romances--WBT, "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," "The Tale of King Arthur," "The Tempest," "The Winter's Tale," and "As You Like It"--yields a definition of "romance." It is the magician who defines romance and his magic--his deep understanding of nature--that defines the development of the plot.; Through the magician, the hero can overcome the obstacles that lie before him at the outset of the plot; and, through the intervention of the magician, the audience can come to hope in a benign providence rather than a cruel, inexorable fate.

Chaucer Subjects: Background and General Criticism.; Wife of Bath and her Tale.