Magic in Romantic Fantasy
"Attitudes toward magic in Romantic Fantasy are usually very different from that expressed in most high fantasy or sword and sorcery. Rather than representing an alien and corrupting force that destroys its practitioners, or a complex, secretive body of folklore that isolates magicians from normal society via long study and seclusion, magic typically takes the form of innate abilities that are natural and simple to use, sometimes described as psychic talents like empathy or precognition, sometimes oriented towards affinity for or control of a particular natural element (such as the four classical Greek elements, fire, air, earth and water). Magic is thus presented in the narrative as an innate and positive part of someone's nature, and by extension a "natural" part of the world; fear of these abilities is often depicted as a reaction born of ignorance, poor guidance, or evil."
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