The Secular Scripture: A Study of the Structure of Romance by Northrop Frye

The Secular Scripture: A Study of the Structure of Romance Reviews

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  Regitze

  Very interesting take on popular fiction and why it is so. I read it primarely for this reason, but his analysis of romance was quite interesting to read as well, even if I found it a bit too example heavy, it did show a similarity across genres and time.
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  M.J. Perry

  This book is a delight to read. The use of Frye's language and the subtle, dry wit that punctuates his analysis of romance makes it as enjoyable as it is thought provoking. Frye traces the history of the romance, explores its development and demonstrates its literary and cultural importance.
  
  This little book has many points to make, some of which seem so obvious, after reading, the reader cannot help but exclaim "Of course, why didn't I think of that?" His very brief reference to coincidence (only one and half pages) is a case in point.
  
  My only regret is that I did not read this book years ago, but then again, it is probably more appreciated with the experience that comes with age.
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  Ericka

  If you want to be able to read fiction "deeply", this is a good book for you. However, be warned that the author often takes the long way around to defend his points, so it's easy to get lost if you have to stop reading in the middle of a chapter. He does provide a lot of literary examples to illustrate his points, but if you're not familiar with the books he's using, you might not appreciate them.
  
  It's a good companion book to The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
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  niv

  i was skeptical until that last chapter
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  Adam Ross

  As with all of Frye's work, it is a mixture between wonderful and horrible. Often he makes great observations coming from a perspective that is completely backwards to reality. He says much about the Bible as literature, but assumes that it is only literature instead of history, and has an annoying tendency to refer to apocryphal stories as though they were as authortitative as Scripture itself (coming, no doubt, from his assumption that both are on equal footing literarily). So some worldview discresion is advised, but if you can get beyond that, the book opens up into a wonderful exploration of literature. There is much fruit here for the Biblically minded.
  
  He argues that the genre of "romance" is at once wide and narrow. He doesn't mean by romance the sort of book you would find in the "romance" section at Barnes and Noble. By romance he means all stories that form an imaginative and mythological matrix that includes stories of mistaken identities, mysterious births, adventures, the hero's journey, shipwrecks, magic potions, the rescue of maidens in distress, etc. This would include genres such as horror, science fiction, and fantasy, as well as more classical literature. Many critics disdain such stories, despite their continued popularity by people, and Frye believes they should indeed be taken more seriously than they have in the past.
  
  The question of why such stories continue to be popular is raised, but his explanation left me ill satisfied. Rather, for the Biblical Christian, these stories continue to be popular because they tap into reality. For the Christian, the world is not limited to what is seen, to matter and energy alone. The universe is an open system - the Spirit is always pouring into it and Christ is the glue that binds all things together. The conventions of "romance" as Frye understands it strike a chord deep in our hearts. These stories resound in us because they are shadows of the greatest "romance" of all time; the Christian romance, which features miracles, mysterious births, mistaken identities, ship wrecks, the rescue of maidens and the waging of war against the Dragon. To the Christian these are really real aspects of what others call "mundane" life. I think if we take Frye's structures (and Joseph Campbell's for that matter) in this way, our understanding of stories and how they work will increase bountifully.
• 
  Mark

  The Secular Scripture offers a free-wheeling discussion of the different forms Romantic narratives take and why the forms (epic verse, chanson, play, opera, novel) matter to the meanings of the works and to the concept of Romance itself. His wide-ranging exploration includes Classical Greek and Roman drama, William Golding, Benjamin Franklin, the stories of O. Henry, and The Magic Flute. Frye’s digression into the differences between the erotic and the pornographic is entertaining.
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  Chris Schaeffer

  All I'd like to say is that some of the Greek romances Frye mentions are quiet difficult to find! Get on that, publishing world. I know Penguin put out a thing of Greek novels a year or so ago-- but why do things in half measure? Come on.
• 
  Conrad Leibel

  Wise, insightful work which analyzes the social and cultural functions of the romance form. Philosophical and meditative, I would recommend Frye's book to anyone with an interest in narratives, literary theory, and a desire for earnest self reflection.
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  William Baker

  Great thought, often uplifting, occasionally complex but worth the sweat! Recommended for all who want to know what the process of reading does to them without a recourse to psychology, except in a few passages where some Jungian influence is detectable.
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  J. Guapster

  Frye is classic. I especially liked Chapter 4: Themes of Descent and Chapter 5: Themes of Ascent.