, in which female characters-if present at all- are peripheral and one-dimensional, his literary descendants, such as Robin McKinley’sĬharacterize Maid Marian and describe her not only in relationship to men, but in partnership with them, thereby describing how male quest narratives written by contemporary women writers have augmented the Robin Hood legend. As a result, the very text that feeds and informs the Robin Hood legend of the twentieth century is thorough in its treatment of literary heroism but blind to heroism as a female potential.Ĭonsidering the interest in the effects of literature on the gender and social development of the young adult reader, an interest in those writers who follow Pyle and are subsequently influenced by his work articulates just what effect his narrative has had on contemporary authors’ notions of female heroism. However, Pyle’s text does not handle the ballad of “Robin Hood and Maid Marian”-nor does it explore Maid Marian’s role in the legend. Pyle’s text retells most, if not all, of the Robin Hood ballads (a mere glance through the table of contents reveals 20 of these ballads, from “Robin Hood and the Tinker” to “Robin Hood and Guy of Gisbourne”).

Feminist Advances in Late Twentieth-century Retellings of the Robin Hood Legend for Young Adultsīoth Robin McKinley and Esther Friesner, contemporary retellers of the Robin Hood legend, refer to Howard Pyle’sĪs their first significant introduction to the legend.

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