Reviews for Poets and prophets

The average rating for Poets and prophets based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-02-09 00:00:00 Carnell Perkins This is an interesting analysis of various perceptions of madness in the middle ages. It draws from the biblical story of Nebuchadnezzar who fulfills one of his own dreams by selfishly attributing all his glory to his own good work. God punishes him by causing him to go mad. He lives as a wild man for several years before his kingdom is restored (Daniel, chapter 4). According to Doob, there are three literary conventions for madness in the middle ages: (1) the mad sinner; (2) the unholy wild man; (3) the holy wild man. I am especially interested in the treatment of Yvain, one of the knights of the round table, who experienced the second of these forms of madness. Like Nebuchadnezzar, his reason is restored, and he becomes a better knight because of it.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-02-25 00:00:00 Stefan Andersson Very much a survey, but useful enough for my purposes - getting a broad grasp of the current conception of medieval English literature in its context. While it makes me realize just how desperately I need to read in more depth, it also points me to some sources for that reading. I do wish it had been organized differently, perhaps with one period following the next, each including commentary on contemporaneous literature and culture. Instead there's a chapter on culture, followed by a chapter on literary genres, and I found myself jumping back and forth trying to piece together a whole picture of any given period.