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Symbolic Stories: Traditional Narratives of the Family Drama in English Literature
Analysis of the structure of traditional stories and fairytales, bringing out their shared characteristics, and showing why they remain so powerful and resonant today.
Many famous stories, from the Old Testament, medieval romance and folktale, to Shakespeare's tragedies and comedies and even some great novels, present apparent inconsistencies or absurdities when judged as plausible representations of 'reality'. Yet the experience of many generations of readers and listeners is that such stories take a powerful hold on the imagination and memory, and create a strong impression on coherent significance. Symbolic Stories shows why the structure of these tales is so significant, and why they are repeated, both in the original and with variations, down the ages.
Professor Brewer reveals new aspects of the stories themselves by elucidating the implicit and symbolic meanings that lie below the literal narrative. The stories discussed are those that are especially concerned with the processes of growing up and coming to maturity. They are told from the point of view of the emerging individual as he or she passes through the rites de passage that allow disengagement from parents, self-realisation, the establishment of new relationships, and integration with society.
The bookdemonstrates certain characteristic themes and structures in these traditional stories, but is far from reducing them to a single formula. One of the main purposes is to show how selected stories of great artistic value establishtheir own individual meanings within the general pattern. There are new interpretations of the famous romances, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Malory's Tale of Sir Gareth, and of other romances. Shakespeare'sremarkable portrayals throughout his career of various aspects of the family drama are discussed, and the essence of a new theory of tragedy and comedy is suggested. The extreme type of traditional story in Europe is seen as the fairy tale, which is analysed to show how fundamentally such narrative differs from the novel, but Mansfield Park and Great Expectations are explored in detail to show their equivocal relationships to the tradition.
The book will appeal to all those who are interested in the structure of narrative, whether from the point of view of literature, psychology or folklore.
The late Professor Derek Brewer was Master of Emmanuel College Cambridge and Reader in Medieval English Literature in the University of Cambridge. He published numerous books and articles, especially on Chaucer, but on all periods of English literature.
Many famous stories, from the Old Testament, medieval romance and folktale, to Shakespeare's tragedies and comedies and even some great novels, present apparent inconsistencies or absurdities when judged as plausible representations of 'reality'. Yet the experience of many generations of readers and listeners is that such stories take a powerful hold on the imagination and memory, and create a strong impression on coherent significance. Symbolic Stories shows why the structure of these tales is so significant, and why they are repeated, both in the original and with variations, down the ages.
Professor Brewer reveals new aspects of the stories themselves by elucidating the implicit and symbolic meanings that lie below the literal narrative. The stories discussed are those that are especially concerned with the processes of growing up and coming to maturity. They are told from the point of view of the emerging individual as he or she passes through the rites de passage that allow disengagement from parents, self-realisation, the establishment of new relationships, and integration with society.
The bookdemonstrates certain characteristic themes and structures in these traditional stories, but is far from reducing them to a single formula. One of the main purposes is to show how selected stories of great artistic value establishtheir own individual meanings within the general pattern. There are new interpretations of the famous romances, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Malory's Tale of Sir Gareth, and of other romances. Shakespeare'sremarkable portrayals throughout his career of various aspects of the family drama are discussed, and the essence of a new theory of tragedy and comedy is suggested. The extreme type of traditional story in Europe is seen as the fairy tale, which is analysed to show how fundamentally such narrative differs from the novel, but Mansfield Park and Great Expectations are explored in detail to show their equivocal relationships to the tradition.
The book will appeal to all those who are interested in the structure of narrative, whether from the point of view of literature, psychology or folklore.
The late Professor Derek Brewer was Master of Emmanuel College Cambridge and Reader in Medieval English Literature in the University of Cambridge. He published numerous books and articles, especially on Chaucer, but on all periods of English literature.
200 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1980
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March 29, 2012
I was reading this for a class, since there was an excerpt I was interested in during one of the classes, and then I came up against this line, in reference to David and Jonathan:
"It seems absurd to attribute such masculine friendships to homosexuality in any ordinary understanding of the word as perverted sexuality, unless any friendship between persons of the same sex is to be called homosexual."
Absurd. Perverted sexuality. I --
Yeah, I'm not going to continue reading this. I thought this theories overly contrived and over-simplified anyway. I read on a little bit, in hope that Brewer would put this in the context of society, rather than own those views as his own, but he does not. He includes it matter of factly, as though it is beyond question.
For him, it might be beyond question, but for me it's beyond question to continue reading something from a mind so poisonous.
"It seems absurd to attribute such masculine friendships to homosexuality in any ordinary understanding of the word as perverted sexuality, unless any friendship between persons of the same sex is to be called homosexual."
Absurd. Perverted sexuality. I --
Yeah, I'm not going to continue reading this. I thought this theories overly contrived and over-simplified anyway. I read on a little bit, in hope that Brewer would put this in the context of society, rather than own those views as his own, but he does not. He includes it matter of factly, as though it is beyond question.
For him, it might be beyond question, but for me it's beyond question to continue reading something from a mind so poisonous.
Displaying 1 of 1 review