Female protagonists in the Late Byzantine romances Livistros and Rodamni and Achilleid as seen through Greimas' actantial model

Title: Female protagonists in the Late Byzantine romances Livistros and Rodamni and Achilleid as seen through Greimas' actantial model
Source document: Neograeca Bohemica. 2021, vol. 21, iss. [1], pp. [27]-40
Extent
[27]-40
  • ISSN
    1803-6414 (print)
    2694-913X (online)
Type: Article
Language
 

Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.

Abstract(s)
This article deals with the development of the love relationships between the protagonists in the romances Livistros and Rodamni and Byzantine Achilleid. Focusing on the female protagonists and their characters, it pursues the potential shifts in their demeanours towards their male counterparts. The method used for the analysis of the characters is the actantial model by A. J. Greimas. Firstly, the article shows how the process of courtship transformed from an act of persuading the female protagonist in Livistros and Rodamni to the rather straightforward wooing in the Achilleid, despite the use of similar courtship methods. Second, it shows that the behaviour of the female protagonists also shifted; the complexity and craftiness of Rodamni contrasts with the much more direct and decisive character of Polyxeni. The article provides evidence of a shift in the portrayal of the love relationships in erotic fiction as well as a tendency to portray the female protagonists of such works as being more self-reliant and open-hearted.
References
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