De Troyes: Lancelot's moral dilema

Of course we all know that this mystery knight is Lancelot. In this reading, Lancelot is faced with many moral decisions to make. First he has to decide whether or not to sleep with a girl so that she will give her lodging, then has to decide whether or not to save her from another knight who is trying to rape her. Despite his undying love for Guinevere, he decides to sleep with the girl (it pains him, but he feels obligated). When he goes to do the deed, he is faced with an opportunity to escape this obligation to sleep with her. He decides not to take the opportunity, because he has made a promise. It is unclear whether his choices could be considered moral, as both options seem immoral. Saving her and sleeping with her could be seen as the wrong choice because he is betraying his devotion to Guinevere. At the same time this could be seen as the right choice because he saved the girl from being raped and upheld his promise. Although the portrayal of women by De Troyes up to this point seems a little more positive than Malory's, this girl depicts women as weak, unable to fend for themselves, and mostly interested in sex. I found it a little hard to believe that if Lancelot's love for Guinevere left him in such grief in her absence that he went into a trance-like state that he would sleep with this random girl just to have a place to stay.

de Troyes: Lancelot's death-trap bed

This week, on the adventures of the myserious knight everyone knows is actually Sir Lancelot, we hear the riviting story of the time when he went to bed and almost died. I feel as though this scene is one of those vision-like scenes where everything is in a state of hyper-symbolism, and the symbols can only be decoded when the dreamer/hallucinator talks to a priest. Interestingly enough though, de Troyes doesn't give the reader a magic decoding hermit and leaves us to analyze the bed scene ourselves.
For starters, the lance that barely grazes Lancelot's side can be taken as a metaphor between Lancelot and Christ, as a lance through the side was the final cause of Christ's death in his Passion. It's also said that the covers on the super-awesome bed are "gold-starred", and combined with the part where Lancelot nearly burns in the bed brings to mind images of how gold is refined through fire. Is this nightmareish fiasco some sort of test for our young knight?
My gut is telling me that some of symbols are actually foreshadowing and won't be intelligable to us until after we've finished the entire reading on Thursday. For instance, Lancelot throws the lance back into the hall. Is Lancelot rejecting the metaphor because he's obviously in love with a married woman, something we know to be displeasing to God as he's not granted a chance to see the Holy Grail? Is Lancelot striving for immortality?
So many questions. Guess I'll have to keep reading!

Malory: Ding, dong, is the King dead?

The end of the fourth section leaves readers with a very ambiguous feeling regarding the death of the title character. Malory makes it very clear that he believes King Arthur to be dead, and that anyone who believes otherwise does harm to the good King's memory and rest. However, he gives us readers other clues that suggest at alternative possibilities. First of all, the assumed opinion of King Arthur himself. He certainly seemed to think his half-sister (for who else could be a queen and call him "dear brother"?) possessed the very real ability to heal his wounds, for why else would he have so fervently insisted that Sir Bedivere perform what seems to be a siren call to that witchy woman, and to do so quickly? It surely can't be just to say hello to the woman who tried to kill him on numerous occasions. In his parting words to Sir Bedivere, he informs the knight that the magical barge will carry him off to Avalon. In addition to this possibility of his recovery, Malory includes the simple (if only legendary) epithet on the tombstone of the King, (as so nicely translated by Shannon) "Here lies Arthur, the Once and Future King".
I feel as though it is this possibility, that of a King who can conquer even death, which has injected the legend of King Arthur with the lifeblood necessary to see its continued existance through all the centuries. At the beginning of the course, that was one of the questions I had for myself: how can a story have such a varied and rich life starting in the middle ages and still going strong? I believe now that the answer lies in this mystical King, reigning without end. (And oh, I suppose the strong parallels this draws to Christianity hasn't hurt its longevity.)

Malory: Dreams in The Death of Arthur

In the final two chapters of this book, we see a few more examples of dreams. The first is in The Day of Destiny. Arthur has a dream that he is dressed in gold, and is pushed into a well filled with serpents, dragons, and wild beasts which proceed to tear him apart. He then has a half-sleeping, half-waking vision of the deceased Sir Gawain, warning him not to go into battle with Sir Modred, lest he be killed. It seems in this example that his vision is an interpretation of the dream he has just had. Both offer a warning of events to come. These beasts in the well may be a metaphor for Sir Modred and the destruction that is to come from fighting him. Arthur takes heed of this warning and tries to set a truce until Sir Launcelot can come to his aid. In true self-fulfilling-prophecy style, the battle begins at the meeting to discuss the truce as a knight draws his sword against a snake that has just bit him. In this instance, the serpent is evil just like the ones in Arthur's dream, and essentially brings about his demise.
 The second example of a dream is in The Dolorous Deaths and Departing Out of this World of Sir Launcelot and Queen Gwynevere. Sir Launcelot has the same vision four times in one night, instructing him to go to Amesbury with six of his companions to get the queen and bury her next to King Arthur. He tells the Archbishop of these visions, who then informs him that he must obey them. This vision is significant because the queen's death leads directly to Sir Launcelot's death, for he dies of a broken heart. It seems that everything he every did was for her, even dying.

Malory:The Death of Arthur

This was certainly the best part of the book, and I am not saying that to be flippant and whiny. I loved the action and characterization of the end, it far surpassed the dry and winding road the rest of the novel was taking us down. Arthur is forced to face the affair between Gwynevere and Launcelot, and Sir Gawain hounds the issue till an outright war between Launcelot and Arthur is being pursued. Meanwhile Sir Modred the bastard ( I mean that in both senses of the word) is sneaking around and usurping the throne! He even takes it as far as trying to marry his stepmother. GRODY.
It is interesting to see the intimate connection between fatherhood and heartbreak in the novel. Launcelot father's Galahad and regrets the way in which he is conceived, though not the conception itself. Galahad's perfection knocks Launcelot from the title of most upright knight living and he can't quest for the Holy Grail. It also causes relationship troubles between himself and the Queen. And for Arthur's case he commits accidental incest and fathers a man who is destined to kill him. There is really nothing good to come out of being a daddy in Malory's world. Perhaps it has something to do with the pain caused on both sides when God sent his only son down to the world, knowing all the while what was to come?
With the loss of Arthur the kingdom falls apart. One by one his truest knights and his queen release thier worldly possessions and passions and enter into a hermetic life of penitance and prayer. Arthur is established as a Christ figure with the inscription on his tomb "Here lies Arthur, the Once and Future King." There is a belief that he will come again and lead England to a new age of glory, much like the second coming described by the prophets for Christ.

Malory: Chart

There We go! So there's our chart in full with exciting illustration. Coming up, a blog post on the Le Morte D'Arthur's Morte D'Arthur.

Malory:Launcelot and Guinevere

I found this section especially interesting as it was the first where we got a real taste of the inner lives of our characters. Earlier the most characterization we receive from Guinevere is that sweet little moment where she  says something terribly cheesy to Arthur along the lines of "Whether in peace or war, I always wish to be by thy side." Now we find that she isn't this devoted, chaste wife and noble queen, she's certainly taking part in an affair with Launcelot and is both jealous and petty.Nor is Launcelot the white knight we expected him to be when on pg.116 (in my book) he declares "I believe that a true knight is neither adulterous or lecherous". In fact, the second page of Launcelot and Guinevere's tale she accuses him of being "depraved and lecherous" because she thinks that flirting with the other courtly maids will lead to him cheating! Malory finally finds a way to create complex characters. Guinevere is cruel in her constant dismissal of Launcelot when she feels the least bit of suspicion, but she redeems herself as a caring,maternal, forgiving lady when Elaine washes on shore and she asks Launcelot "Surely you could have shown her some gentleness and saved her life thereby?" and Launcelot is redeemed as a faithful,chivalrous knight by assuring her that he could not, he did not love her, implying that he would never lend his heart to any but Guinevere, even if it meant the death of himself or another. there is something noble in that sort of faithfulness, and he proves it again and again as he is captured and tempted by harlots in random castles. Then the king develops as well,there is a moment where it almost seems as if Arthur sees what's going on between his best mate and his girl, understands and approves when he says "The knight who puts his heart in bondage loses himself." Its like he says its okay that you two love each other, you deserve that true, requinted love and even though I'm being cheated on it would be ignoble for me to get in the way. All in all the development in this section was pretty spectacular. It's just too bad that it comes right before everyone dies. :/

Malory: Oh Holy Knight

In the episode of the poisoned apple we see once again the dichotomy between holy and unholy with Sir Launcelot. We know already that he is unholy, due to his love for Queen Gwynevere. He was told he was not worthy for the quest for the Holy Grail. In this part of the story, the queen exiles him for sleeping with other women (even though she is essentially committing the same sin). Someone poisons the apples at the queen's dinner party, and because she's a woman she is obviously guilty. As it turns out, she exiled the only knight who would be willing to defend her in court. Luckily a knight in white armor comes to take Sir Bors' place in fighting for the queen. This is a continuation of the motif of deadly combat with a mystery opponent, as Sir Madore fought this mystery man in white. This white armor is a symbol of purity and holiness. After the white knight wins the battle, they all praise him for his honorable deed, defending the queen's honor. Even though he revealed his true identity, the queen and king both told him "may God reward you". What they don't see is that Sir Launcelot's white armor is just a disguise for the blackness underneath. His true intent was just to get back on the queen's good side to win her affections once more, and continue his sin.

Malory:Galahad Walks on Water (sort of)

I find the biblical motif we see in the tale of Sir Galahad quite interesting. This lady who happens to be Percival's sister drags them on this boat to another barge which is the physical incarnation of faith. Those who try to board it without believing will perish. Galahad and his band all take a deep breath, a quick prayer and jump on board. In this moment we are reminded of the scene in the new testament when Jesus walks on water.  In Matthew 14 Jesus's boat gets battered and beaten and he finds it easier overall to just saunter across the sea, and as he walks towards his disciples they all flip out like "WOAH MAN THAT AIN'T NO SOLID SUPPORTING YOUR WIEGHT THERE!" or something stately and King James Version-esque like that. He calls to Peter, bids him come, and Peter begins to walk on it to, but his faith proves weak and he sinks. Jesus saves him and says one of the most quotable lines of the stuffy little volume, "Ye of little faith, why did ye doubt?". This could have easily happen had Sir Percival's heart flipped on him as they attempted to clamber onto the ship, and Galahad seemed fearless and easy as the messiah taking a little stroll over the H2O. This passage brings us back to Galahad as a savior character.
The biblical references don't stop there. The ship is apparently made out of a whole slew of important plants from the old testament. Carved out of the Tree of Knowledge from the Garden of Eden, its colors tell the story of Christianity from the fall of innocence to the birth of the messiah. However Solomon, being weak and silly in matters of women, caused the ship to enchant itself so that only the faithful might climb aboard. A rather interesting way to imbue the boat with the entirety of christian belief in two pages.

Malory: Sir Galahad and the Virgin sword

In this section of Le Morte D'Arthur, we're given an account of the magical boat the trio of Sir Galahad, Sir Percival and Sir Bors find, in addition to the magical bed, sword, and girdle found within (in addition to a lengthy history lesson of all four items). The highlight of the find is, of course, the sword. A weapon which can only be gribbed and weilded by one man (Sir Galahad), the sword bears different inscriptions that tell the weilder what to do next, if he should be worthy.
Most interesting about this sword, however, is that Sir Galahad calls it "the most precious Vigin of all time" (430), which can only be an allusion to the Virgin Mary. What about this weapon merits a comparison with the mother of God?
Perhaps though, this renewed attention to his religious beliefs is meant to remind the readers that Sir Galahad's first allegience is to God, right before he makes a promies to Sir Percival's sister to serve her hereafter, as Malory didn't want us to think Sir Galahad was following in the ways of his father, Lancelot, who focused all his energy on serving Lady G instead (as Sarah pointed out).
Still though, comparing a weapon that will soonafter massacre an entire castle to the pure, sinless Virgin Mary does seem a bit odd...

Malory: Holiness and the Holy Grail

In the Tale of the Sangreal, I found the idea of holiness to be of interest. The Christian ideals of the time are so different from my ways of thinking. I was perplexed as to why Sir Launcelot wasn't "worthy" to pursue the Holy Grail. It was said that he committed sin in his love for Queen Gwynevere, specifically for fighting for her rather than fighting for God. I find myself feeling bad for Sir Launcelot. He tries to repent and is still told that he is not worthy to even see the Holy Grail. Sir Galahad on the other hand is somehow this great holy figure. Sir Launcelot and his son serve to juxtapose each other. Although they are related, Sir Launcelot is earthly and Sir Galahad is holy. This point is once again emphasized with the fight between the white and black knights. Here Sir Launcelot fought for the black knights, which obviously symbolize sin, whereas the white knights symbolize purity. It comes as no surprise then that the white knights won the battle. Everyone keeps yelling at Sir Launcelot to repent, though it seems that he already is. What I'm wondering is why all these knights went on this quest that it seems only Sir Galahad is capable of completing, knowing full well that they will probably die somewhere along the way. Even if they don't die, they certainly won't be able to accomplish what they set out to do.

Malory: Symbolism overload?

I understand that symbolism in literature is old as dirt and as necessary to the life of a text as dirt is to our physical lives, but sometimes I felt like Malory just delights in beating his readers over the head with symbolism. With all the visions our favorite knights see over the course of this section and all the strange folk they run into during their quest for the Holy Grail, it's impossible for one particular symbol to remain standing for the same vice or virtue (as that's what most of Malory's symbols seem to represent) for long. For instance, three of King Arthur's knights encounter a situation involving black horses, all of which prove very problematic and embarassing episodes for that knight. The first time, it's Sir Percivale riding atop a murderous devil horse he borrowed from a woman extracting promises of unquestioned obedience (among Sir Percivale's many glorified qualities is not common sense). The second time, Sir Launcelot sees a great battle between an army atop white horses and an army riding black horses. Being the chivalrous knight he is, Sir Launcelot joins the loosing side of black horses, only to be defeated and later told (by one of the seemingly thousands of traveling monks) that he had been fighting for Team Earthly Sin in picking the black horses. Finally, Sir Bors meets a man "riding a pitch-black horse" (401)* who nearly tricks him into falling into a state of sin by pretending to be a priest interpreting visions.
While these are all well and good, Malory does not always use the color black to signify an evil presence (as I learned after a few times automatically assuming black was bad and having to re-read after I became mightily confused). At one point, Sir Bors has a vision which includes a black bird representing the Christian church. How then are the readers expected to keep track of various symbols used numerous times throughout the texts? (Malory uses more symbols than I could name, but they range from special numbers and colors to weapons to various types of shrubberies.) SHOULD we be able to recognize symbols as soon as they appear? Why or why not?


*I was using the photocopied version available from the course website...I'll have the version matching one of yours by next week!

So what's up with this Gawain character?

I'm not quite sure how we're supposed to feel about him. At the beginning of  6.Gawain, Uwayne and Marhaus he seems like a great guy. He's beloved of the court, he stands up for his cousin and imposes self exile rather than let his family be wronged, and off he rides to have knightly, chivalrous adventure. Then he gets caught up in this imbroglio with a beautiful young noblewoman. He displays unwarranted cowardice/laziness in coming to the aid of Sir Pelleas.She ditches him in the midst of a squabble for a guy  who walks up and can't find a better pick up line then 'allow me to become your protector'. So he ends up claiming that he wants to help Sir Pelleas, when really all he does is take his girl. This makes Pelleas react like a love sick teenager. "And now," he concluded, "I am going to lie on my bed, never to rise again. "(89) Finally Nyneve steps in and turns Pelleas's heart against Lady Ettarde while enchanting her to love him. She dies of heartbreak and Nyneve and Pelleas ride off into the sunset. Then Gawain meets back with his knightly friends and they all head back to Arthur's court. So I geuss what I'm asking,is how should we feel about him/