“If you want a golden rule that will fit everything, this is it: Have
nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to
be beautiful.” - William Morris
I feel two ways about The Wood Beyond the World. I applaud Morris for his attempt to
resurrect medieval romance, which has values that are definitely alien and antique to modern
thought. It also fits within the fantasy genre because it is about: defeating evil, finding your true
love along the way, and reaching your fullest potential. I can also see where later authors borrowed from it (the Green Lady from C.S. Lewis' The Silver Chair is
almost identical to Morris' Lady in her evil ways and the way her
consort talks to her). Yet, I feel like this story is very one sided (and can I say male-dominant?).
I mean we never hear the wife's perspective. We never learn the "maiden's" name. I feel that this impersonal nameless relationship begets a male egotistical dominance. The depth of his sacrificial love for her is that he 9reluctnatly) gives up living in the forest to live in the city (although she is terrified of the Lady). As the story ends with Walter and the maid fleeing and making their way back
to the "real" world, the story just dies out. I guess I was expecting a more intricate plot with a twist, or depth to the characters, but it did not happen.
I was originally excited to read something that inspired Lewis and Tolstoy, so I may have had higher expectations for the novel. As I dove in I found it overly
antiquated and quaint, but I pursued on hoping to find depth in the characters. I
felt so left down by the ending and found the closure way too simplified in the "happily ever after" that could have been better.
I am sorry if I am too harsh/blunt, but by Morris's own quote, I feel that I would not keep this book in my house, because I felt that it was neither beautiful nor useful.
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