Gower and Romance.

Author/Editor
Saunders, Corinne.

Title
Gower and Romance.

Published
Saunders, Corinne. "Gower and Romance." In Ana Sáez-Hidalgo, Brian Gastle, and R. F. Yeager, eds. The Routledge Research Companion to John Gower (Oxford and New York: Routledge, 2017), pp. 281-95.

Review
Compared to the MO and VC, the CA is a "different kind of visionary text" due to its engagement with romance (281). The dual purpose of the CA--pleasure and instruction--is reinforced by "inset tales" combining the narrative "memes" (281) of the genre with a "moral" and "exemplary" purpose (282-84). The shock of an "otherworldly encounter" (285) may dramatize a character's free choice (285), while "transformation" and "enchantment" may be "life-inspiring" or "devastating" (286). The "testing of virtue" provides a model for social reintegration (287-88). The conventional subject of love (281) is combined with a searching analysis of the emotional experiences and "agency" of women (288-89). These elements are melded in the capstone romance Apollonius of Tyre (289-92). [LBB. Copyright. The John Gower Society. eJGN 37.2.]

Date
2017

Gower Subjects
Confessio Amantis
Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations