Medieval Romance and the Construction of Heterosexuality

by
Format: Hardcover
Pub. Date: 2007-12-15
Publisher(s): Palgrave Macmillan
  • Free Shipping Icon

    Free Shipping on all Orders Over $35!*

    *excludes Marketplace items.

List Price: $109.99

Buy New

Usually Ships in 8 - 10 Business Days.
$109.44

Rent Textbook

Select for Price
There was a problem. Please try again later.

Rent Digital

Online: 30 Days access
Downloadable: 30 Days
$18.56
Online: 60 Days access
Downloadable: 60 Days
$24.75
Online: 90 Days access
Downloadable: 90 Days
$30.94
Online: 120 Days access
Downloadable: 120 Days
$37.13
Online: 180 Days access
Downloadable: 180 Days
$40.22
Online: 1825 Days access
Downloadable: Lifetime Access
$61.86
$40.22

Used Textbook

We're Sorry
Sold Out

This item is being sold by an Individual Seller and will not ship from the Online Bookstore's warehouse. The Seller must confirm the order within two business days. If the Seller refuses to sell or fails to confirm within this time frame, then the order is cancelled.

Please be sure to read the Description offered by the Seller.

Summary

This book interrogates our ideas about heterosexuality through examination of medieval romance narratives. Familiar configurations of romantic fiction such as male desire overwhelming feminine reluctance and the aloof masculine hero undone by love derive from this period. This book tests current theories of language and desire through stylistic analysis, examining transitivity choices and speech acts in sexual encounters and conversations in medieval romances. In the context of current preoccupations with gender and sexuality, and consent in rape cases, this study is of interest to scholars investigating language and sexuality as well as those researching and teaching medieval literature and culture.

Author Biography

Louise M. Sylvester is Senior Lecturer in English Language at the University of Westminster. She is the author of Studies in the Lexical Field of Expectation (1994); co-author of Middle English Word Studies: a Word and Author Index (2000); co-editor of Lexis and Texts in Early English: Studies presented to Professor Jane Roberts (2001); and Teaching Chaucer (2007) as well as essays on Middle English and cognitive approaches to lexicographical resources.

Table of Contents

Constructing the Heterosexual Contract
Romance and Rape
The Sadistic Hero
Dynamics of Consensual Heterosex
Romance Debased
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

An electronic version of this book is available through VitalSource.

This book is viewable on PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and most smartphones.

By purchasing, you will be able to view this book online, as well as download it, for the chosen number of days.

A downloadable version of this book is available through the eCampus Reader or compatible Adobe readers.

Applications are available on iOS, Android, PC, Mac, and Windows Mobile platforms.

Please view the compatibility matrix prior to purchase.