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Article: Rosemarie Deist, Gender and Power: Counsellors and their Masters in Antiquity and Medieval Courtly Romance.(Book Review)
- Article from:
- Medium Aevum
- Article date:
- March 22, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Society for the Study of Mediaeval Languages and Literature. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Rosemarie Deist, Gender and Power: Counsellors and their Masters in Antiquity and Medieval Courtly Romance, Beitrage zur alteren Literaturgeschichte (Heidelberg: Winter, 2003). 259 pp. ISBN 3-8253-1468-5. 40.00 [euro].
This is a wide-ranging study of minor characters who in some way counsel the protagonists in Chretien de Troyes's romances, with considerable additional attention being paid to their ancient influences and their German variations. Deist's prime interest is the character constellations in which these counsellors are involved.
The prototype of such figures, according to Deist, is the 'old nurse', a stock character in Euripides' plays, ...