Representations of Exile in Early English Literature: 1100-1500 A.D.
- Author/Editor
- Lawler, Jennifer L.
- Title
- Representations of Exile in Early English Literature: 1100-1500 A.D.
- Published
- Lawler, Jennifer L. Representations of Exile in Early English Literature: 1100-1500 A.D. Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Kansas, 1996. 241 pp. Dissertation Abstracts International A57.07. Fully accessible via ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.
- Review
- In her dissertation on the theme of exile in medieval English narratives, Lawler follows Mary Metz Gwin (1987; Auburn dissertation) in treating Amans' trajectory in Gower's "Confessio Amantis" as a form of "spiritual journey" (101)--for Lawler, an essentially "ironic" (102) one that indicates the need to abandon courtly affection as a means to self-recovery. Comparing Amans with Chaucer's Troilus, Lawler argues that each lover jeopardizes his soul through worldly love and must abandon it for "higher matters": "Just as devotional lyrics remind Christians that they should exile themselves from the temptations of the world," Lawler observes, "so too do some love poems reiterate this belief" (103). [MA]
- Date
- 1996
- Gower Subjects
- Confessio Amantis
Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations