Title: 2 themes/passage/character/symbol
NO GENERAL IDEAS.
definitions (irony, symbol, paradox) Abrahams/Cardons Dict of literary terms
Intro (good review n argument)
Discussion and analysis
Begin with a Review of literature/ 2 references. Can be referenced in the footnotes of the page
In this essay, I will discuss
Close reading, x sweeping statements, but have exact quotations and intepretations. More Engagement with the text details
Essay Outline: Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D'arthur
European literature of the middle ages came into prominence after the old literature of epics and sagas portraying heroic men with next to no mention of female characters (take Beowulf, for instance). Unlike its predecessors which mostly observed Christian rites in sporadic sequences via revamped scribal editions of the oral sagas[1], this new form, especially Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D'arthur, is heavily infused with religious innuendos, giving rise to the chivalric codes in accordance to the Christian Church while also emphasising the romances and courtly love between men and women[2], giving rise to literary representations of women. Although Armstrong (2003) argues in her study of Gender and the Chivalric Community that the chivalry lends power to women under the guise of the protection it grants them, I argue that women are only ‘powerful’ if they fall under the accepted principle that women are docile, dependent and subservient to men, which bares the constraints of identity in women. Hence, I will discuss how Malory reconstructs the roles of women in the legend with a misogynistic perspective and paints them as bland secondary citizens when compared to men.
In Le Morte D'arthur, Malory solely focuses on aristocratic characters3, but even so he writes the role of women as second-class citizens, even to the point of being objectified in the literal sense, becoming collectible 'items'. The illocution used by knights when they say they 'gain' or 'get the right' to a woman is compared to the idea of gaining a new piece of armour to their possession. Though some critics like Capellanus (1941) say that the manifestations of love in Malory's writing stresses on purity and the lack of 'sinful' acts of lust4, the symbolism of women used as objects for the sexual pleasure prevalent in men peeks out, not only through imperative means but also baldly glorified and romanticized in the diction itself. In accordance to this idea, I present a direct quote that highlights the contradiction in the chivalric ideals of holiness and the lusting of flesh practiced by a monarch, the representative of power and the pillar of society clearly negating the human identity in women. 'Our king is a lusting knight and wifeless, and my lady Igraine is a passing fair lady; it were great joy unto us all and it might please the King to make her his queen.' Furthermore, even when Merlin was confirming Arthur's legitimacy as the heir to the throne, the linguistic imperative folded within ‘begotten on Igraine, the Duke's wife of Tintagel’ refers to Igraine as more of an object than a person. Apparently, this behaviour of sexual objectification lies unchecked as we see that ‘King Arthur cast great love’ unto Morgause, and gets to have sex as he pleases. Then, we have a scenario to 'Warn Lady de Vance that the king was coming' so that she may prepare her body for King Roince. Also, at one point where Merlin says: 'ye shall be right glad to give him your sister to wed for his good service'. Here, a sister is traded off like an object. This is problematic in the sense where the author writes in this new character as a cardboard cut-out that has the value to work solely as a 'prize' in the plot of the story, which really equates the female human to a sack of gold or any other item that could be used as a payment of sorts5. Hence, the fact that multiple examples are present just within the span of an excerpt proves that female objectification isn’t an isolated incident.
Malory’s work reflects the Middle-Age stereotype of women as evil and responsible for the original sin only to a certain degree, since the influence of Virgin Mary propelled women as pure and praised beings, creating a conflicting depiction of perfection and carnality in courtly romances6. As women lie on both sides of the spectrum of humanity, they cannot be on relatable terms with men, resulting in their lack of voice. Either in court or in societal decisions, women are muffled by a deafening silence and stripped of the richly layered humanity present in male characters. For example, after allowing Igraine to endure mental distress, Uther finally admits his trickery, and we are then told that Igraine received such news with ‘great joy’, without anger or the instinctive loss from experiencing. Her will is subject to Uther’s will; we do not see a sense of agency in her character. Considering the facts that she was tricked for sex, coerced into marriage with a man she had already refused, and had her resulting newborn taken away by her rapist’s plotter as if the separation of a mother and her newborn child didn't matter, we know that the total infringement and the stifling of women’s voices occurs even in text. In this manner, we tentatively agree that Malory assumes Igraine's psyche, severely downplaying the richness of her identity as a human to being just the supporting pole for the centre role of men. Conversely, there are moments when women quietly rebel against the predominant power structures, but any womanly voice that appears to challenge the status of man would have to bear the brunt of the male's pride. ‘Right so came Ulfius, and said openly…Ye are the falsest lady of the world, and the most traitress unto the king’s person…Queen Igraine is causer of your great damage, and of your great war’. Ulfius, the exact person who was sent to find Merlin for Uther’s deception and had part in hashing plans for Uther’s romp with Igraine, accused her of treason. That shows how inconsequential even a woman of her rank becomes under the self-righteous judgement of so-called chivalric knights. Another vignette we can dissect is the scenario when King Arthur apparently adheres to the chivalric codes by agreeing that he would grant any boon within his capabilities to the Lady of the Lake as a payment or gift for the legendary sword Excalibur that she procured. As the exchange progresses, we clearly see that her valid requests were rejected by Arthur. In failing to fulfil his vow, King Arthur assumes the dominant position where his 'voice' ultimately holds weight in contrast to that of a woman's. This view can be counter balanced by hypothesising outcomes of a twist in the same scenario where the damosel assumes a male identity, which, if the diction and style of writing persists, would probably change King Arthur's decision in favour of the request to aid a fellow man in regaining honour. Next, when Balin was asked to return the sword of the damosel after succesfully pulling it out, proving his identity as the best knight and most of 'worship without treason, treachery, or felony', he baldly refused, saying 'for this sword will I keep, but it be taken from me with force.' By doing so, Balin refutes his respect and blatantly revokes any sense of gratefulness towards the damsel, even when it was explicitly stated that her purpose was only to provide counsel for his own good. But Malory's version of Balin is the one knight out of the entire group that has been deemed ‘worthy’ enough, without a hint of treachery or treason in his heart. With this in mind, we observe that Balin commits a branch of 'treachery' or non-gallantry when he stubbornly refuses to return the sword for purely selfish reasons, though he justifies this by his choice for adventure, 'that God will ordain' for him, leaving the damsel in great sorrow. Hence, while the plight of voiceless women can be clearly seen in today's context, it is undoubtedly compounded in medieval society.
Women, in general, are viewed to be dependant toward men despite their positions. This is justified by the understanding that women need men. According to history, medieval women were often kept indoors while the men venture out to 'get stuff done'. As Power writes, “the great majority of women lived and died wholly unrecorded as they labored in the field, the farm, and the home” (Loyn, 346). But specifically in the text, women were expected to depend on men to defend their honor, and in accordance to the chivalric codes, it is only if the knight decides to defend the woman and wins the fight that said woman gets to regain her honor. This can be inferred from which Igraine said 'I am a woman and I may not fight; but rather than I should be dishonoured, there would some good men take my quarrel!' Furthermore, the scene of the damsel says 'This sword that I am girt withal doth me great sorrow and encumbrance, for I may not be delivered of this sword but by a knight' reveals that the trope of the damsel in distress is used in a way that reduces the agency of the character, and is quite apparent in the manner where Malory pins the damsel as an mere filler for the purpose of building the plotlines of Arthur and his knights errant. Subsequently, with the same effect as a woman wielding a powerful voice, any outliers, which are hence classified as independent women, are immediately classed as anomalies, their 'womanhood' stripped away to introduce new identities that befit them in the perception of men. This particular interpretative strain can be further established with an example in the text itself, as Balin smote the head of the Lady of the Lake when he justified his dehumanization of her humanityn his own perspective through the lens of Thomas Malory, Balin recognizes the Lady of the Lake as the 'untruest lady living, and by the enchantment and by sorcery she hath been the destroyer of many good knights. and she was causer that my mother was burnt, through her falsehood and treachery.'
The codes of chivalry were created to imbue honour in men and lessen discord amongst the armed aristocracy while also establishing the norm of gallantry toward women, though interestingly enough, the scales of equity amongst the sexes are still grossly tipped in favour of men. What unfolded from these ideals were constructed on an unbalanced playing field, in which men are ascribed to dominate the thought and action, making medieval history his-story, rather than our collective story. This is why we should know that while more than half of the population are female, the roles of women still wear thin in Malory's depictions. The theme of quests for a lady’s love were widespread, but women were portrayed as 'items' to be sought for. In this manner, women were subject to a lesser status, partly due to a contextless biblical narrative, in the light of a patriarchal society.
[1] Blackburn, F. A. (1897). The Christian Colouring of Beowulf. PMLA. 12 (2): 210–217.
[2] Chris Baldick (2008). "Chivalric Romance". The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.
3 The British Library Board. (2019), What’s the story about?. [Online] Available from: https://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/englit/malory/. [Accessed:11 December 2020]
4 The Art of Courtly Love, ed. J. J. Parry (New York: Columbia University Press, 1941) p68
5 (N)Onomastics and Malory: Anonymity and Female Characters in Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'arthur Jennifer Justice, Southern Illinois University Carbondale 12-1-2014
6 https://www.ancient.eu/article/1345/women-in-the-middle-ages/
Power writes, “the great majority of women lived and died wholly unrecorded as they labored in the field, the farm, and the home” (Loyn, 346). Women in general are viewed to be dependant toward men. Any outliers are immediately classed as anomalies, their 'womanhood' stripped away to introduce new identities that befit them. Curiously enough, it is the antagonistic outlier that successfully births substantial layers of characteristics in a woman. She thus becomes a round character that is remembered and recorded more fully in colour by history and literature.
Though portrayed to be His love is one sided
The Cult of the Virgin Mary was not new to the Middle Ages. Mary had been declared the Mother of God by the Church in 431 CE at the Third Ecumenical Council. Mary’s high standing, however, did little to elevate women’s status in society. The Church both demonized and elevated women through the dichotomy of the biblical tale of Eve – who caused humanity’s fall from grace in the Garden of Eden – and that of the Virgin Mary whose son was believed to have redeemed that fall. Women were simultaneously considered the source of all the ills of the world and the means of that world’s redemption through the birth of Jesus Christ.
Accordingly, women were at once denied the same social status as men while legally being recognized as a man’s partner, helpmate and, under certain conditions, even his equal. The view of women as either evil temptresses or virginal goddesses left no middle ground for a reasoned perception of woman-as-individual. In the Early Middle Ages, the woman-as-temptress model prevailed as clergy emphasized Eve’s role in the fall of man. From the 12th century CE during the High Middle Ages onwards to the end, the Cult of Mary was more popular and so the perception of women improved
The role of women in Malory's Le Morte Darthur, the work on which most postmedieval English-language versions of Arthurian legend are based, is a topic which remains relatively unexplored in scholarship. Much of the existing criticism focuses on the relationship of female characters to certain types of physical spaces and the comparison of different female characters with each other.
Guenevere, Morgan le Fay, Dame Elaine, and Morgause, could be grouped. I asked students to categorize the effects that female characters had on Merlin, Arthur and his knights. After approximately twelve class hours, the students arrived at a tentative set of categories in which most women characters in the Morte could be classified. The class's hypothesis was that most female characters in Malory functioned either as pawns, predators, or parasites in relationship to the male characters.
Guenevere functions as a parasite, a female presence who distracts both Lancelot and Arthur from their larger purpose of establishing a system of governance that promulgates economic justice, the protection of weak and defenseless members of society (including, ironically, women), and punishment of those who transgress just laws.' Before his involvement with Guenevere, for example, Lancelot states that he prefers to have no wife or paramours. Sex with his wife would reduce his vigor in pursuing tournaments and combats, and an adulterous courtly love relationship might result in the displeasure of God and consequent failure in combat: "Fair damsel," said Sir Launcelot, "I may not warn people to speak of me what it pleaseth them; but for to be a wedded man, I think it not; for then I must couch with her, and leave arms and tournaments, battles and adventures; and as for to say for to take my pleasance with paramours, that will I refuse in principle for dread of God; for knights that be adventurous or lecherous shall not be happy ne fortunate unto the wars ... " (6.11.212). m Despite the fact that the Round Table oath requires him to protect and defend women, it is Lancelot's love for a woman that causes him to fail on the quest for the Holy Crail." Because the affair provides an excuse for factions at Arthur's court to sow discord, it also ultimately leads to civil war and the destruction of Arthur's plan for just governance embodied in the Round Table. 6
After examining the roles of women in the Marte Darthur, students immediately notice three things: 1) that while few of Malory's characters are fully motivated, the women are even less developed than the men; 2) that the functions of female characters are defined by their relationships with men; and 3) that none of the women in Malory's work seems to be intended to be admired by the audience. Malory's representation of women resembles a photographic negative, and students invariably wish to develop a positive image. During the remainder of the King Arthur course, I have used two multi-step assignments to help them do so: the first begins as a traditional critical essay comparing Malory's treatment of women to that of another Arthurian author, and the second results in the composition of an Original Arthurian Adventure.
Once powerful figures were casted in a new light to befit the new societal norm of patriarchy.
(Morgan le Fay, Nimue,)
-Curiously enough, it is the antagonistic outlier that successfully births substantial layers of characteristics in a woman. She thus becomes a round character that is remembered and recorded more fully in colour by history and literature.
-negated the light of the Celtic tradition that queens hold significant power over the prospective king. women held power, this idea that was once common became a bizarre notion were lumped into a singular characters that stood out as antagonistic.
Malory uses many of these anonymous women to perform actions which are often attributed to male characters in medieval literature, such as acting as a guide or helper on a quest, challenging gender roles by assigning more active roles to these secondary characters. However, the very anonymity of the women help negate examples of potentially dangerous female agency by downplaying their presence in the text, removing a sense of individuality by creating nameless, faceless female characters who more easily fade into the background by refusing to identify them. This helps reassert patriarchal concerns both by focusing the reader's attention on the male characters' actions and by partially glossing over the female characters' contributions to the text. 1
BIBLIO
(N)Onomastics and Malory: Anonymity and Female Characters in Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'arthur
Jennifer Justice, Southern Illinois University Carbondale 12-1-2014
Dorsey Armstrong Gender and the Chivalric Community in Malory’s Morte d’Arthur University Press of Florida 2003
Fenster, T., Arthuriana, vol.10, no. 2 (Scriptorium Press, 2000)
JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27869554. Accessed 21 Nov. 2020.
https://www.ancient.eu/article/1345/women-in-the-middle-ages/
Helmut Birkhan: Kelten. Versuch einer Gesamtdarstellung ihrer Kultur. pp. 91 f.
Celts, Image & Their Culture by Helmut Birkhan (2000-03-15)
Cronan, D. (2004). "Poetic Words, Conservatism, and the Dating of Old English Poetry". Anglo-Saxon England. 33. pp. 23–50.
A new history of ecclesiastical writers, Volumes 1–2' by Louis Ellies Du Pin et al 2010 page 212
Yet stronger evidence of interest in Mary predates both the frescoes and the papyrus: the Protoevangelium of James, an apocryphal gospel dated by some scholars to about 145 c.e., existed in a number of ancient manuscripts in a variety of languages, suggesting a widespread interest in the mother of Jesus. With many colorful details, the text gives an account of Mary’s conception, birth, upbringing, and marriage, along with an elaborated version of the birth of Jesus that stresses Mary’s virginity.
https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935420.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935420-e-62
Historia regum Britanniae, (Latin: “History of the Kings of Britain”) fictional history of Britain written by Geoffrey of Monmouth sometime between 1135 and 1139. The Historia regum Britanniae was one of the most popular books of the Middle Ages.
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