The Secular Scripture: A Study of the Structure of Romance

by Northrop Frye

Book Overview

Northrop Frye's thinking has had a pervasive impact on contemporary interpretations of our literary and cultural heritage. In his Anatomy of Criticism, a landmark in the history of modern critical theory, he demonstrated his genius for mapping out the realm of imaginative creation. In The Secular Scripture he turns again to the task of establishing a broad theoretical framework, bringing to bear his extraordinary command of the whole...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674796764
• ISBN13: 9780674796768
• Release Date: January 1978
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

A Clear Explanation of Archetypal Theory

For the past couple of years, I have had an avid interest in Literary Criticism. I tend to be a traditionalist in this area, and so have a lot of respect for Northrop Frye, who was the last great proponent of an objective view of literature.Frye's most important work is The Anatomy of Criticism, which is very insightful, but can also be difficult to understand, especially for someone new to Critical Theory.Secular Scripture is an in-depth application of the theories presented in Anatomy of Criticism to one particular branch of literature: romance. As such, it relies more upon concrete examples than upon abstract reason, and is much easier to understand. If you are looking for a good introduction to archetypal theory in literature, this is probably the book for you.