Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book considers the relationship between the way that warrior-women in the fifteenth-century poem known as “The Nine Ladies Worthy” and then transformed into the modern cinematic experience of Wonder Woman. It examines two Arthurian film adaptations, King Arthur and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword: each re-writes Arthurian material, and highlights how medievalism in filmmaking is used as a tool for unpacking meaning in both the past and the present. The book discusses the adoption and manipulation of the works, image, and legacy of Geoffrey Chaucer towards the promotion of political aims—during the Reformation and the Restoration—and Chaucer’s use in highlighting twenty-first-century issues. It argues that an inspiration that is visible across the whole series has been overlooked: namely, the influence of John Webster’s Jacobean tragedy The Duchess of Malfi.