Ruritanian romance
Ruritanian romanceis a genre of literature, film and theatre comprising novels, stories, plays and films set in afictional country,usually inCentralorEastern Europe,such as the "Ruritania"that gave thegenreits name.[1]
Such stories are typicallyswashbucklingadventure novels,tales ofhigh romanceand intrigue, centered on the ruling classes, almost always aristocracy and royalty,[1]although (for instance)Winston Churchill's novelSavrola,in every other way a typical example of the genre, concerns a revolution to restore rightful parliamentary government in therepublicancountry of Laurania. The themes of honor, loyalty and love predominate, and the works frequently feature the restoration of legitimate government after a period of usurpation or dictatorship.
History of the genre
[edit]Romantic stories about the royalty of afictional kingdomwere common, for instanceRobert Louis Stevenson'sPrince Otto(1885). But it was the great popularity ofAnthony Hope'sThe Prisoner of Zenda(1894) which set the type, with its handsomepolitical decoyrestoring the rightful king to the throne, and resulted in a burst of similarpopular fiction,such asGeorge Barr McCutcheon'sGraustarknovels (1901–27) andFrances Hodgson Burnett'sThe Lost Prince(1915),Edgar Rice Burrough'sThe Mad King(1914), andother homages.[2]In children's literature, the 1938–39Adventures of TintincomicKing Ottokar's Sceptre[3][4][5]eschewed literal romance, but is an adventure about foiling a plot to depose the king ofSyldavia.Literary criticJohn SutherlandsaysEric Amblerbrought the Ruritanian romance to "its highest pitch" with his 1939 novelThe Mask of Dimitrios.[6]An earlier venture into Ruritanian themes was Ambler's very first novel,The Dark Frontier(1936), set in the fictional Balkan country ofIxania.[7]George MacDonald Fraser's 1970 novelRoyal Flashand the 1975 filmRoyal Flashbased on it are set in the fictional Duchy of Strackenz, and its plot freely borrows many elements ofAnthony Hope's book; indeed, Fraser's protagonistHarry Flashmanaudaciously claims that Hope had plagiarised his own exploits.
The genre was widely spoofed and mocked.George Bernard Shaw'sArms and the Man(1894) parodied many elements.[citation needed]Dorothy Sayers'sHave His Carcase(1932) featured as the murder victim a man deceived by his murderers because of his foolish belief in his royal ancestry, fed by endless reading of Ruritanian romances.[citation needed]TheMarx BrothersfilmDuck Soup(1933) is set in a bankruptFreedonia.Antal Szerb'sOliver VII(1943) features a monarch of a fictional Central European state who plots a coup against himself and then flees to Venice in order to experience the life of an ordinary person. Similarly,Charlie Chaplin'sA King in New York(1957) starts with King Igor Shahdov being overthrown by a revolution in his Eastern European country Estrovia and coming to live in exile in New York. In the satireThe Mouse That Roared(1955), the Duchy ofGrand Fenwickattempts to avoid bankruptcy by declaring war on the United States as a ploy for gaining American aid. InVladimir Nabokov'sPale Fire(1962), the main narrator has the delusion of being the incognito king of a "distant northern land" who romantically escaped aSoviet-backed revolution.[8]In the comic filmThe Great Race(1965), rally driver Professor Fate (played byJack Lemmon) is the double of the Crown Prince of the tiny kingdom of Carpania.
The popularity of the genre declined after the first part of the twentieth century. Aside from the change in literary taste, the royalist elements of Ruritanian romances became less plausible as many European monarchies receded even from memory, and their restorations grew less likely.[citation needed]
Many elements of the genre have been transplanted intofantasy worlds,particularly those offantasy of mannersandalternate history.[9]Thescience fictionwriterAndre Nortonfirst reached success with a 1934 Ruritanian novel,The Prince Commands.[9]Although "Ruritania" originally referred to acontemporarycountry, the idea has been adapted for use inhistorical fiction.A subgenre of this ishistorical romance,such asJennifer Blake'sRoyal Seductionand its sequelRoyal Passion;both are set in the nineteenth century and feature Prince Rolfe (later King) and his son Prince Roderic respectively, of the fictional Balkan country of Ruthenia.[citation needed](Rutheniais a genuine geographic name, identifying an area of eastern Europe somewhat to the north of theBalkan Peninsula,in theCarpathian Mountains,but is not an independent country.)
Other Ruritanian settings in fiction
[edit]Marvel Comicscreated the characterVictor Von Doom,absolute monarch ofLatveriain the Balkans, who combines recognizable elements of a Ruritanian monarch with being a formidable comicssupervillain.
The Grand Budapest Hotel,a 2014 comedy film written and directed byWes Anderson,is set in the fictional nation of Zubrowka, a central European alpine state teetering on the outbreak of war.[10]
The Peacher Seriesby Michael Arram is 16 novels published online which occur largely in modern day Ruritania, renamed Ruthenia.The Crown of Tassilois a second series of five more novels which occur in the period between Anthony Hope's novels (late 1880s) and modern day. The linked novels cover a wide range of genres but cover topics including the restoration of the Ruthenian monarchy, aristocratic intrigue, commoners, love, christianity, history of the fictional country, the Ruthenian language, and gay eroticism.[11]
Avram Davidson's DoctorEszterhazystories are set in a fictitious ramshackle Balkan empire resembling Austria-Hungary, but with Ruritanian characteristics.[citation needed]
Ursula K. Le Guinset a number of short stories and a novel in the fictitious Eastern European land of "Orsinia",[12]which has been identified as being simultaneously Ruritanian and naturalistic.[13]
Hayao Miyazaki's animated filmThe Castle of Cagliostrois set in the fictional country of Cagliostro, inspired by Riviera and Monaco.[14][15]
The Student Prince,an operetta bySigmund RombergandDorothy Donnelly,also adapted several times to film, has as its protagonist the heir apparent to the fictitious kingdom of Karlsberg who is sent away to theUniversity of Heidelbergwhere he falls in love with a bar maid. The affair is doomed by his royal responsibilities when he is recalled to attend his dying grandfather, the king. Subsequent to his succession he is forced by duty to marry a well-doweredprincess.[16]
The Tin Princessis a 1994 children's novel byPhilip Pullmanset in the fictional Central European country of Razkavia.[17]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^abJohn CluteandJohn Grant,The Encyclopedia of Fantasy,p. 826ISBN978-0-312-19869-5
- ^Prisoner of Zenda
- ^Ash, Timothy Garton (29 April 2004)."Unfinished Symphony".The Guardian.
- ^Glenn, Joshua (21 November 2013)."20 War & Ruritanian Adventures".HiLoBrow.Retrieved2017-03-18.
- ^Bieber, Florian (January 2014)."Why Syldavia?".Notes from Syldavia.Retrieved2017-03-18.
- ^Sutherland, John.Bestsellers: A Very Short Introduction,Oxford University Press (2007), p. 90ISBN0-19-157869-X
- ^Priotti, Nadia (2018). "Eric Ambler and the Trick of Boundaries".Altre Modernità.2018: NUMERO SPECIALE: CONfini (special edition): 176–83.doi:10.13130/2035-7680/9784.
- ^McCarthy, Mary(June 4, 1962). "A Bolt from the Blue".The New Republic.Revised version inMary McCarthy (2002).A Bolt from the Blue and Other Essays.New York:The New York Review of Books.pp.83–102.ISBN1-59017-010-5.Retrieved2006-09-25.
- ^abJohn CluteandJohn Grant,The Encyclopedia of Fantasyp. 827ISBN978-0-312-19869-5
- ^"Spoiler Alert: You Can't Really Stay at the Real Grand Budapest Hotel (But We Can Tell You Everything About It)".Archived fromthe originalon November 5, 2014.Retrieved2015-06-20.
- ^"The Peacher Series".Retrieved2023-01-21.
- ^Le Guin, Ursula K (1976).Orsinian Tales.New York: Harper & Row. pp.179(hardcover).ISBN978-0575022867.;Le Guin, Ursula K (1979).Malafrena.New York: Putnam. pp.369.ISBN978-0399124105.;andLe Guin Ursula K (2005).Unlocking the Air and Other Stories.New York: William Morrow Paperbacks. pp. 207 (paperback re-issue).ISBN978-0060928032.
- ^Bittner, James (November 1978)."Persuading Us to Rejoice and Teaching Us How to Praise: Le Guin'sOrsinian Tales".Science Fiction Studies.5(16).
- ^"Locus Online: Cynthia Ward surveys the films of Hayao Miyazaki".
- ^Kehr, Dave (20 January 2002)."FILM; Anime, Japanese Cinema's Second Golden Age".The New York Times.
- ^Green, Stanley (1990).Hollywood Musicals Year by Year.Hal Leonard Corp. p. 186.ISBN978-0881886108.RetrievedFebruary 11,2019.
- ^"The Tin Princess: A Sally Lockhart Mystery by Philip Pullman: 9780375845147 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books".PenguinRandomhouse.com.Retrieved2020-11-04.