Morgan Le Fay, Shapeshifter - (Arthurian and Courtly Cultures) by Jill M Hebert (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

This study re-examines Morgan le Fay in early medieval and contemporary Arthurian sources, arguing that she embodies the concerns of each era even as she defies social and gender expectations. Hebert uses leFay as a lens to explore traditional ideas of femininity, monstrousness, resistance, identity, and social expectations for women and men alike.

Review Quotes

"[A] useful reference for students and Morgan enthusiasts for its sheer ability to synthesize so much prior scholarship and provide intertextual readings of a wide range of Arthurian literature . . . Morgan le Fay, Shapeshifter regularly inspired me to want to turn to the texts or delve into the issues and questions Hebert raises. I have no doubt that the book ill spark further investigations into the character of Morgan and her changing status during various eras of Arthurian literature." - Medievally Speaking

"Advanced scholars will find this book enlightening for the transhistorical connections it provides, but students new to the study of this enigmatic figure will find Hebert's text invaluable . . . Hebert is committed to an expansive approach that probes boundaries rather

than creating them, forcing readers to interrogate their deeply entrenched expectations." - Speculum

"Hebert's book will have widespread interest, especially for advanced undergraduates and graduate students majoring in literature a

and/or women's studies, art history, and media studies. It will serve as a resource for Hebert's analysis and judgments regarding various works and also as a model of one scholarly way to examine a magnetic character - Morgan le Fay - over several centuries of primary works and through various historical, philological, and myth-centered approaches as well as various genres." - Sue Ellen Holbrook, Professor of English, Southern Connecticut State University

About the Author

Jill M. Hebert is an assistant professor of English at the University of Saint Mary.