William Morris, The Wood beyond the World

Robert Boenig (Texas A&M University)
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Published in 1894,

The Wood Beyond the World

is the fourth of Morris's early prose romances and the second, after

The Glittering Plain

(1891), to combine the essential elements of the fantasy genre—a purely imagined medievalesque world and the supernatural. Together with

The Well at the World's End

(1896), it has a title capable, as the later fantasist C. S. Lewis pointed out, of evoking a feeling of wonder. From the earliest folklore and fairy stories, the wood has been the locus of the mysterious, the dangerous, and the marvelous, but how then did this one get beyond the confines of this world? How does one get there? In one sense the book's title insures its success, for we are compelled to read it to find out.

The Wood Beyond the World

moreover makes us ask other questions, for…

2161 words

Citation: Boenig, Robert. "The Wood beyond the World". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 November 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8212, accessed 19 March 2024.]

8212 The Wood beyond the World 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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