The Medievalism of Lawrence of Arabia

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Asian, Middle Eastern, Theory, Nonfiction, History, Middle East
Cover of the book The Medievalism of Lawrence of Arabia by Malcolm D. Allen, Penn State University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Malcolm D. Allen ISBN: 9780271073262
Publisher: Penn State University Press Publication: July 16, 1991
Imprint: Penn State University Press Language: English
Author: Malcolm D. Allen
ISBN: 9780271073262
Publisher: Penn State University Press
Publication: July 16, 1991
Imprint: Penn State University Press
Language: English

M. D. Allen's study deals with T. E. Lawrence's lifelong interest in the medieval world, especially medieval literature, and its considerable influence on his view of himself and of the Arabs with whom he fought in an archaic theater of war, and hence his own literary production.

The Medievalism of Lawrence of Arabia investigates the influence Lawrence's interest in medieval life and literature had on his attitudes toward life in general and—in content, theme, and diction—on his masterpiece, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, in particular. Allen begins with a brief biography of Lawrence—his early interest in things medieval and his somewhat controversial BA thesis on crusader castles. Allen then reveals the extent to which Lawrence's ideas about honor, warfare, and chivalry in the Arab war against the Turks were shaped by his reading in medieval writings such as Malory's Morte d'Arthur. (Both, as he makes clear, were warrior societies dominated by horses.) Lawrence's reading in the nineteenth-century medievalism is also explored, as in Tennyson's Idylls of the King, and Ruskin's writing on art, where the parallel between Ruskin's ideas on ornament and Lawrence's ideas about the dignity of war is demonstrated.

Allen then identifies the medieval and neomedieval texts of Seven Pillars of Wisdom and shows why and to what effect Lawrence borrowed from chivalric, neochivalric, and pseudochivalric works, and sometimes transmogrified them, revealing Lawrence's greatest inspiration to be an English translation of the Moallakat (which is, so to speak, the Arabic Beowulf). Allen sheds new light on many aspects of the influence of medievalism on Lawrence's thought and writing.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

M. D. Allen's study deals with T. E. Lawrence's lifelong interest in the medieval world, especially medieval literature, and its considerable influence on his view of himself and of the Arabs with whom he fought in an archaic theater of war, and hence his own literary production.

The Medievalism of Lawrence of Arabia investigates the influence Lawrence's interest in medieval life and literature had on his attitudes toward life in general and—in content, theme, and diction—on his masterpiece, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, in particular. Allen begins with a brief biography of Lawrence—his early interest in things medieval and his somewhat controversial BA thesis on crusader castles. Allen then reveals the extent to which Lawrence's ideas about honor, warfare, and chivalry in the Arab war against the Turks were shaped by his reading in medieval writings such as Malory's Morte d'Arthur. (Both, as he makes clear, were warrior societies dominated by horses.) Lawrence's reading in the nineteenth-century medievalism is also explored, as in Tennyson's Idylls of the King, and Ruskin's writing on art, where the parallel between Ruskin's ideas on ornament and Lawrence's ideas about the dignity of war is demonstrated.

Allen then identifies the medieval and neomedieval texts of Seven Pillars of Wisdom and shows why and to what effect Lawrence borrowed from chivalric, neochivalric, and pseudochivalric works, and sometimes transmogrified them, revealing Lawrence's greatest inspiration to be an English translation of the Moallakat (which is, so to speak, the Arabic Beowulf). Allen sheds new light on many aspects of the influence of medievalism on Lawrence's thought and writing.

More books from Penn State University Press

Cover of the book Museum Rhetoric by Malcolm D. Allen
Cover of the book Do the Poor Count? by Malcolm D. Allen
Cover of the book Adventures in Paradox by Malcolm D. Allen
Cover of the book The Schenley Experiment by Malcolm D. Allen
Cover of the book Sex, Culture, and Justice by Malcolm D. Allen
Cover of the book Conscience and Other Virtues by Malcolm D. Allen
Cover of the book Text + Field by Malcolm D. Allen
Cover of the book Picturing Experience in the Early Printed Book by Malcolm D. Allen
Cover of the book Baroque Seville by Malcolm D. Allen
Cover of the book Madness and Blake's Myth by Malcolm D. Allen
Cover of the book In a Defiant Stance by Malcolm D. Allen
Cover of the book Chaim Potok by Malcolm D. Allen
Cover of the book Kitsch and Art by Malcolm D. Allen
Cover of the book The Spirit of Praise by Malcolm D. Allen
Cover of the book Before the Revolution by Malcolm D. Allen
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy