Saint George and the Dragon as Fantastic Literature
Set "in the days when monsters and giants and fairy folk lived," Margaret Hodges' tale Saint George and the Dragon brings to the world of children Edmund Spenser's classic Faerie Queene. Retold in children's format in 1984, Saint George and the Dragon is based upon Spenser's English legend of the sixteenth century. Through examination of the characteristics that describe fantastic and magical realist literature, a more concise understanding of magical realism can be obtained.
In Saint George and the Dragon, many "magical" elements exist throughout the text. The setting, in the days when "monsters and giants and fairy folk lived in England," lays the groundwork for many other mysterious elements (Hodges 7). The Red Cross Knight, the main character of the story, was "bound on a great adventure, sent by the Queen of the Fairies to try his strength against a deadly enemy, a dragon grim and horrible" (Hodges 7).
The Red Cross Knight, with a princess and a dwarf accompanying him, set out to find the dragon. On his way, "there against the evening sky, they saw a mountaintop that touched the highest heavens. It was crowned with a glorious palace sparkling like stars and circled with walls and towers of pearls and precious stones" (Hodges 11). Finally, they saw the dragon. Despite the Red Cross Knight's attempts to kill the dragon, he was unsuccessful. The "half flying, half running" beast threw him to the ground, clapping its wings in victory (15). "But he had fallen beneath a fair apple tree, its spreading branches covered with red fruit, and from that tree dropped a healing dew that the deadly dragon did not dare to come near" (Hodges 16). When the dra...
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...ealistic characteristics, but they function differently in the magical realist mode than they do in Saint George and the Dragon. Although Saint George and the Dragon is not true fantastic literature, many of the elements are the same. By examining the elements that characterize fantastic literature, the boundaries of what can be considered magical realist literature are narrowed.
Works Cited
Faris, Wendy. "Scheherazade's Children: Magical Realism and Postmodern Fiction." Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris.Durham, N.C.: Duke UP, 1995. 125-144.
Hodges, Margaret. Saint George and the Dragon. Boston, M.A.: Little Brown and Company, 1984.
Todorov, Tzvetan. The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary From. Cleveland: The Press of Case Western Reserve University, 1973. 168-174.
Faris, Wendy B. "Scherazade's Children: Magical Realism and Postmodern Fiction." Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham; N.C.: Duke UP, 1995.
Zamora, Lois Parkinson, and Wendy B. Faris. Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community. Durham: Duke University Press, 1995.
On May 2, 1863, 10:00 A.M. Jackson’s force began to move towards Hooker’s flank. Union scouts found Jackson and reported it to Hooker but Hooker thought it was the Confederates retreating. By 3:00 P.M. Jackson had made his way across the Orange Turnpike towards Hooker’s flank. At 5:00 P.M. Jackson’s force attacked Oliver O. Howard 11th Corps near the Wilderness Church. Jackson’s attack was so swift the Union didn’t have time to form a line. By 8:00 P.M. the Union had formed a secondary line. That night when Jackson came back to camp from a scouting mission he was shot by his own guards who didn’t recognize him. Command of Jackson’s portion of the Confederate force then we...
For the purposes of this paper, I would like to adopt the synthesized definition editors Zamora and Faris distill from several key writers and academics featured in the anthology/reader Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community:
For these reasons, based on the examination of these two works, one cannot assume that Sublime literature and Magical Realist literature are the same, nor can one assume that they are genres of one another. They seem to have many characteristics in common, and therefore one would assume that they maintain a close relationship, although independently. By comparing and contrasting another genre of literature with Magical Realism, the defining boundaries that make up Magical Realism are narrowed.
On Tuesday morning, June 30, an infantry brigade of Confederate soldiers searching for shoes headed toward Gettysburg (population 2,400). The Confederate commander looked through his field glasses and spotted a long column of Federal cavalry heading toward the town. He withdrew his brigade and informed his superior, Gen. Henry Heth, who in turn told his superior, A.P. Hill, he would go back the following morning and "get those shoes."
Faris, Wendy B. Ordinary Enchantments: Magical Realism and the Remystification of Narrative. Nashville: Vanderbilt UP, 2004. 24 Sept. 2012. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. 21
Magical realism, by definition, is a literary style that addresses social concerns, but masks the...
Roh, Franz. "Magic Realism: Post-Expressionism." Magical Realism. Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham, N.C.: Duke UP, 1995. 15-30.
...h has expressed a discomfort with labeling her work, “magical realism” explaining that “the events people pick out as magical don’t seem unreal to me” (91). She has also been quoted to have said that “there is no quantifiable reality” (91). For her personally, multiple realities exist, and they are not limited by any cultural beliefs or practices. In these stories, Erdrich helps readers suspend their realities long enough to see that other realities exist. By doing this, she is expanding readers’ general perceptions of the world. The dual weaving of magical and literal language helps create a cross-cultural exchange between the author and reader that is truly unique. Erdrich’s stories, while wildly entertaining, also can teach readers about respecting differences, tolerance, and acceptance of other cultures—all lessons that are extremely relevant in today’s world.
Delbaere-Garant, Jeannie. "Variations on Magical Realism". Magical Realism Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkison Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham" Duke U.P., 1995. 249-263.
Faris, Wendy B. "Scheherazade's Children: Magical Realism and Postmodern Fiction". Magical Realism Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham: Duke U.P., 1995. 163-190.
Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. New York: Vintage, 2010. Print.
In these two poems dragons are featured as negative creatures and are associated with the evil
Bettelheim, Bruno. “Fantasy, Recovery, Escape, and Consolation. “The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. New York: Vintage Books, 1976.