Medieval Wildernesses andKing Lear: Heath, Forest, Desert

Autor:	Michael Steffes
Rok vydání:	2016
Předmět:	Cultural Studies Linguistics and Language Desert (philosophy) Literature and Literary Theory media_common.quotation_subject Tragedy Art Ancient history Romance Language and Linguistics Monasticism Heath forest Spirituality Desert Fathers Wilderness Humanities media_common
Zdroj:	Exemplaria. 28:230-247
ISSN:	1753-3074 1041-2573
DOI:	10.1080/10412573.2016.1179502
Popis:	In Shakespeare’s King Lear, the impact of the storm on the heath on Lear is best explained in light of two obsolescent medieval cultural traditions that found positive value in wild nature, in contrast to the negative views common in early modern England. The forest laws help us understand the heath as a place, as well as the monarch’s relationship to that place. But for understanding the inner change in Lear, which is like that of the knight-hermits in medieval romance, we must turn to the cultural roots of the eremitical tradition in monastic spirituality, which, as Jacques Le Goff has argued, were transplanted from the deserts of Egypt to the forests of France and England. These two medieval cultural traditions, transposed into the play’s ancient pagan setting, provide essential help in understanding why a violent storm in a bleak landscape has such a strong presence in Shakespeare’s great tragedy.
Databáze:	OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz:	https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::bbb132f3aebf8cacd387ee4bf51a2627 https://doi.org/10.1080/10412573.2016.1179502 Zobrazit plný text záznamu