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Articles

Volume 22, Number 1 (1997)

"The English Patient Reposed in his Bed like a [Fisher?] King": Elements of Grail Romance in Ondaatje's The English Patient

  • Bill Fledderus
Submitted
May 22, 2008
Published
1997-01-01

Abstract

Michael Ondaatje's novel is rooted in a body of literature for which the term "romance" was originally used: twelfth- and thirteenth-century retellings of Arthurian legends. The novel contains character and plot elements that are analogous to certain character types of Arthurian romance and to the earliest written narratives of quest for the holy grail. Examining the fisher king, the wasteland and other romance elements in The English Patient enables readers to develop a more critical judgement and interpretation of this (post)modern novel.