Mehl argues, “The fact that is always classed with the romances again reveals how inadequate some of our definitions of medieval genre are” ( Middle English Romances, p. Regardless of what they do, there must be a genre somewhere.ģ Crane, Insular Romance, p. He praises them as “The best actors in the world, either for tragedy, / comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral-comical, his-/torical-pastoral, tragical-historical, tragical-comical-/historical-pastoral, scene individable, or poem un-/limited” ( Hamlet, II.ii.392–96). 2.Ģ The reference to Shakespeare is, of course, where Polonius is speaking to Hamlet about the players. KING OF TARS, INTRODUCTION: FOOTNOTES 1 Solomon, Beyond Formula, p.
