An Examination of Malory's Arthur or There and Back Again
Author
Coffin, William Patrick, Jr.
Subject
Arthur, King
Morte d'Arthur (Malory, Thomas, Sir)
Knighthood in the Marte Darthur(Kennedy, Beverly)
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In its broadest intent, this thesis will examine the dynamic
nature of Arthur's kingdom: what it was before Arthur's arrival,
what exactly were its Heroic, Worshipful and True attributes, and
why and how Arthur's kingdom died when it did. More narrowly, I
will examine Malory's use Arthur as a figure within this rapidly
changing society, studying Arthur's individual actions as
determinants of the course of his kingdom's growth and death. The
extent to which Arthur acts dynamically within his kingdom
directly parallels the kingdom's aspiration to progress from a
Heroic society to a True one. Of course, this effort fails. Arthur's society never progresses past a Worshipful state. In the
effort to become True, this society's most mortal weaknesses
become all too apparent, and both the society and Arthur himself
are broken by this failure to the extent that the kingdom can no
longer preserve itself and the events which cause its destruction
immediately begin to take form.
Arthur is Malory's only consistent thematic thread holding
together Le Morte. However, he is more than the glue holding
together Malory's masterpiece. Arthur is a figure who embodies
his kingdom. Arthur's growth is his kingdom's growth; his death
is the kingdom's, and only by studying his personal achievements
throughout the Le Morte can we gain insight as to his importance
to the dynamics of the Arthurian society. To this end, we will
observe Arthur's various roles within Le Morte, as specific
phases of development he will go through, from feudal chieftan to
maintainer of the "Worshipful Society" to destroyer of his
kingdom. Arthur's first role is, obviously enough, that of feudal
chieftan, and will be this study's starting point. [From introductory section]