Review

"Hardin has a well-established reputation as a scholar of Renaissance literature, but in this book he shows a remarkable range. . . . The dominant impression is of this book''s variety rather than of any single thread of argument. Perhaps in that respect it is almost idyllic in itself, free to explore the ramifications of a classical genre which is subtly persistent, and still making itself felt in modern works by writers as different as Bruce Chatwin and Ursula Le Guin."—Times Literary Supplement

(Times Literary Supplement )

"Goethe considered the Greek prose romance Daphnis and Chloe, written around 200 CE by an otherwise unknown author named Longus, a masterpiece deserving annual rereading. . . . Indeed, this paradigm of the idyllic romance—in which innocent foundlings, one of each sex, discover life and love in a setting of natural beauty--has exercised considerable literary influence from the 16th century on. . . . Hardin''s estimably learned comparative study will reward students of diverse interests. For example, admirers of the popular film The Blue Lagoon (1980) can learn about its novelistic source, Henry De Vere Stacpoole''s 1908 novel of the same title. A source of fresh juxtapositions for those eager to learn about and teach some new and unfamiliar books. Recommended for graduate students and faculty."—Choice

(Choice )

Product Description

Love in a Green Shade examines for the first time in depth the reception history of Daphnis and Chloe in literature, beginning with its Renaissance rediscovery and working through its various transformations in English, French, Spanish, and other literatures. At the same time, Richard F. Hardin launches a groundbreaking exploration of the idyllic romance tradition in fiction and drama.

While Virgil and Theocritus beget a tradition of poetry concerned with male eroticism, idyllic romance centers on the couple in a story pointing toward marriage. In addition to Daphnis and Chloe, this study considers numerous works influenced by the idyllic romance tradition, including Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Milton’s Paradise Lost, Bernardin’s Paul et Virginie, Stowe’s The Pearl of Orr’s Island, Cather’s O Pioneers!, novels by Sand, Hardy, and Pardo Bazan, Louis Hemon’s Maria Chapdelaine, and Mishima’s The Sound of Waves.