Modern Heroism Essays On D. H. Lawrence William Empson And J. R. R. Tolkie - Roger

In These Three Studies, Hinging On An Unusual Theme, Roger Examines Three Very Different Writers: An Impassioned Novelist, A Wry And Witty Literary Critic, And A Donnish Teller Of Apparently Old-fashioned Romances That Have Achieved A Cult Following Today. Many People Assume That Heroism Is Dead Because The Heroic Styles Of Past Ages No Longer Exist. Roger Contends That This Assumption Is Accompanied By Other Beliefs That Are Part Of What He Calls The Myth Of Lost Unity (a Variation On The Myth Of The Golden Age): A Sense That The World Was Once Whole But In Recent Centuries Has Gradually Disintegrated; A Feeling That The Human Condition Is Now Lost Or Alienated Or Drifting; And A Conviction That The Proper Response To Life Is Resignation, Cynicism, Or Despair.