Arthurian Literature, XX edited by Keith Busby and Roger Dalrymple (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS8l appearances in Book 7, Gareth reflects a selfless chivalry that directly contrasts Lancelot's petty, self-serving, sometimes vengeful fighting. And perhaps she overvalues Morgausc's importance in creating the arch-villain, Mordred. Finally, in a book about gender, I expected more detailed analysis of Malory's women; yet Morgan Ie Fay, the two Elaines, and Isolde are left largely unexplored. But these are quibbles. Ifthe book is perhaps too short to do justice to all that Armstrong wanted to accomplish, she still accomplishes a great deal. Her knowledge of theory and critical history is sound, her close readings are insightful, and her ability to reveal Malory in light of his sources is impressive. This is a good read for any student of Malory's Morte D'Arthur. JANET JESMOK Emerita, University ofWisconsin-Milwaukee Keith busby, gen. cd and roger dalrymple, assoc. ed., Arthurian Literature, XX. D. S. Brewer: Suffolk, England &c Rochester, NY, 2003. Pp. vii, 206. isbn: 0-85991798 -3. $75. It is difficult for a single reviewer to do justice to a collection ofthis scope with essays on German, French, and English literature and texts from the twelfth through the twentieth centuries. This rich variety, however, is no small part ofthe value ofuHis work. The two essays on French literature open the collection and both deal with Chrétien de Troyes. Gerald Seaman's 'Reassessing Chretien's Elusive Vanz,' makes use of medieval meteorology, symbology, and biology to tease out the subtlety and complexity of the implications of vanz in order to elucidate its function in the prologue's encomium ofMarie de Champagne. His conclusion weaves these threads together to argue that 'the author clearly viewed his patron as representative of the healthy balance that arises in that authentically medieval moment of perfect synchronicity when the elements (air and fire) [,] seasons (Spring and Summer), humors (blood and yellow bile) and temperaments (sanguine and choleric) harmoniously coalesce' (29). It is a grandly conceived and superbly executed essay. Monica L. Wright's 'Their Clothing Becomes Them: the Narrative Function of Clothing in Chrétien de Troyes' provides a thorough overview of exactly what her title promises. The essays on German literature begin with Jane Dewhurst's 'Generic Hybridity in Hartmann von Aue's Derarme Heinrich! In an essay whose value goes well beyond the specific text under consideration, Dewhurst reexamines the concept of genre and, although she avoids such jargon, 'deconstructs' the notion ofgenre as 'a means of classification of purportedly universal and enduring validity' (82). The essay's examination of genre—and gender, since the function of the maget is crucial—is scrupulous, instructive, and relevant to students of any 'genre' in not necessarily medieval epochs. In 'The Grail Temple in Derfungere Titurel,' Richard Barber and Cyril Edwards review the attempts to visualize accurately the architecture of the text's Grail Temple. Their translation ofthat portion of the text dealing with the temple (lines 329-439) will be useful to Anglophone readers. Their decision that the author intended 22 rather than 72 chapels may be appropriate for scholarly 82ARTHURIANA reasons, but one would be loathe to dismiss entirely the pattern of72 so beautifully reconstructed by Sulpiz Boisserreé and nicely reproduced on p. 88. Krista Sue-Lo Twu initiates the essays on English literature which occupy just over half of the volume, a generous proportion that gratifies this reviewer. Her essay, ' The Awntyrs ofArthure at the Terne Wathelyne: Reliquary for Romance' may well be the most careful and subtle reading ofthe romance in print. Although I am not quite convinced that the author of Awntyrs was the consummate artist Twu postulates, nor that the quest to find (or impose) unity in the text is a particularly useful or necessary task, the arguments presented are subtle and scrupulous and must be considered seriously by any future student of the romance. Dinah Hazell in 'The Blinding of Guenevere: Thomas Chester as Social Critic' also carefully reconsiders a romance that tends to be given short shrift in the scholarly literature. The shortness ofthe shrift may indeed be the appropriate length, but Hazell presents impressive arguments for the seriousness of Chester, and both scholars seem to signal a welcome turn to a reconsideration...