Alexander Oldys's comic displacement of romance in "The Fair Extravagant"
- Lorenzo Modia, María Jesús (ed. lit.)
- Alonso Giráldez, José Miguel (ed. lit.)
- Amenedo Costa, Mónica (ed. lit.)
- Cabarcos-Traseira, María J. (ed. lit.)
- Lasa Álvarez, Begoña (ed. lit.)
Editorial: Servizo de Publicacións ; Universidade da Coruña
ISBN: 978-84-9749-278-2
Ano de publicación: 2008
Páxinas: 433-440
Congreso: Asociación Española de Estudios Anglo-Norteamericanos. Congreso (31. 2007. A Coruña)
Tipo: Achega congreso
Resumo
In Alexander Oldys's "The Fair Extravagant" (1682), the male protagonist is anxious about his authority as a husband due to the heroine's superior social rank and wealth, her strong personality, and her free agency. This paper shows how this is presented in a kind of novel of trial that intends to test the protagonist's manly virtues through a comic displacement of chivalric romance. It draws on Bakhtin's concept of Prüfungsroman and his idea that the novel is a markedly dialogic genre, often permeated with irony and parody. This analysis also assumes that manhood is a social and cultural construction which is materialised in a status that men must achieve under the constant scrutiny and assessment of others.