The Gentry Context for Malory's Morte Darthur - (Arthurian Studies) by Raluca L Radulescu (Hardcover)

About the Book

Morte Darthur is investigated for its reflection of the contemporary political concerns Malory shared with the gentry class for whom he wrote.

Book Synopsis

Morte Darthur is investigated for its reflection of the contemporary political concerns Malory shared with the gentry class for whom he wrote.

This book sets Malory's Morte Darthur in the context of the political concerns that he shared with the fifteenth-century gentry readers for whom he wrote his book; the author draws widely on their correspondence and readingmaterial, but looks particularly at the political content of contemporary miscellanies owned, commissioned and read by the gentry. She shows how the themes of political governance and royal succession, which are of primary importance in contemporary historical chronicles and genealogies, informed the political thinking of Malory's readers; and demonstrates how debates over ideas of worship, fellowship, lordship, and counselling indicate a process of changes in the gentry's political attitudes and values, their sense of identity, and also their response to the Arthurian story.

Dr RALUCA L. RADULESCU is Lecturer in English at Bangor University.

Review Quotes

An important study of various political, social and cultural contexts of Malory's Morte Darthur.-- "ARTHURIANA"

To understand political attitudes at play in the Morte Darthur>/I> and England at the close of the Middle Ages, scholars will want to study Radulescu's book.-- "JOURNAL OF ENGLISH AND GERMANIC PHILOLOGY"

A very good look at the current state of gentry studies.-- "MEDIUM AEVUM"

For those interested in one of the last medieval romances, as well as the social and intellectual history of fifteenth-century England, Raluca Radulescu's work is a scholarly and engaging text, which fully displays the gifts in the philological and historical areas of this rising academic on the world scene of Arthurian specialists.-- "ADEVARUL LITERAR SI ARTISTIC (Romania)"