Program
English
College
Arts and Sciences
Student Level
Doctoral
Start Date
7-11-2019 2:00 PM
End Date
7-11-2019 3:45 PM
Abstract
This study considers the functions of love magic and the authorial discomfort with which it is treated in high and late medieval romances from continental and insular Europe. I theorize three functions of love magic-to induce love, to disrupt love, and to maintain or facilitate love. I assert that although magic and adulterous courtly love in medieval romances are accepted by medieval authors, the use of love-inducing magic is presented with an authorial discomfort that requires either an implicit condemnation or an explicit divine endorsement due to the violation of free will. I examine this discomfort in a variety of literary examples from insular and continental European romances and contrast it with the romances' presentations of love magic meant to disrupt love or facilitate love. The project concludes with a chapter that turns to the relationships between magical beings-usually fairies or elves (which are somewhat indistinct within later medieval romances)-and humans, with specific attention to how the gender dynamics of these relationships affect the romance's presentation of the relationship.
Making Love: Love Magic in Medieval Romances
This study considers the functions of love magic and the authorial discomfort with which it is treated in high and late medieval romances from continental and insular Europe. I theorize three functions of love magic-to induce love, to disrupt love, and to maintain or facilitate love. I assert that although magic and adulterous courtly love in medieval romances are accepted by medieval authors, the use of love-inducing magic is presented with an authorial discomfort that requires either an implicit condemnation or an explicit divine endorsement due to the violation of free will. I examine this discomfort in a variety of literary examples from insular and continental European romances and contrast it with the romances' presentations of love magic meant to disrupt love or facilitate love. The project concludes with a chapter that turns to the relationships between magical beings-usually fairies or elves (which are somewhat indistinct within later medieval romances)-and humans, with specific attention to how the gender dynamics of these relationships affect the romance's presentation of the relationship.
