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Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Jana Hallovä The Arthurian Legend in Modern Adaptations Bachelors Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Mgr. Filip Krajník, Ph. D. 2016 / declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. Jana HaNova 2 Table of Contents 1. Introduction 4 1.1 Thesis Introduction 4 1.2 Introduction to the Contemporary Adaptations 5 2. Character Portrayal 9 2.1 Arthur 9 2.2 Morgan le Fay 14 2.3 Merlin 18 3. Plot Interpretation 22 3.1 Uther and Igraine 22 3.2 Guinevere and Lancelot's Affair 25 3.3 The Conception of Mordred and his Overthrow of King Arthur 32 4. Christianity and Paganism 36 4.1 Transition from Paganism to Christianity 36 4.2 Arthur and his Dual Religion 41 4.3 Guinevere and Christianity 43 5. Supernatural Features 47 5.1 Magic and the Essence of World 48 5.2 Manifestations of Magic 50 6. Conclusion 53 7. Sources 56 8. Summary 58 9. Resume 59 3 1. Introduction 1.1 Thesis Introduction There is power in legends; some are an integral part of history, some serve to represent countries or people and some are simply source of entertainment, but most of all legends provide great opportunities for new inspirations and new art works, literary or otherwise. The legend of the great King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table does just that and to this day it has inspired many great works and will continue to do so. All legends change with time; each new approach and each new retelling either adds something, omits something or changes something, and this way new and new stories arise, new characters are introduced, and new nuances are implemented, giving even more opportunities for the next retelling. It is no different with the Arthurian legend, which started by a few chapters in the pseudohistorical Historia Regum Britanniae by Geoffrey of Monmouth (written around 1136) where the prophecies of Merlin and the character of Arthur are introduced. Geoffrey of Monmouth's account on Merlin's life Vita Merlini follows and the legend of King Arthur is set into its typical mystical environment shrouded in magic and prophecy. The story of Arthur inspires and fascinates and more and more stories connected to his reign appear, such as Chretien de Troyes's works which introduce new and nowadays crucial characters such as Sir Lancelot; they are followed by the works from the so called Vulgate cycle which incorporates many more Christian motives into Arthur's story and later it is followed by the Post-Vulgate cycle works. The Arthurian legend is written down in an attempt to create the most complete account on King Arthur in 1485 by Thomas Malory in his masterpiece Le Morte Darthur or The Hoole Book of Kyng Arthur and of His Noble Knyghtes of The Rounde Table (later referred to only as Le Morte D 'Arthur). By his 4 work, Malory provides an excellent source for future authors and more brand new stories (such as the well-known Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by the so called 'Gawain-poet' or 'Pearl-poet'), and versions of the old stories are created to this day. Furthermore with the rise of new technologies, the Arthurian legend inspires the newly created recounts to take new forms as films, series or even computer games. As the stories of the Arthurian court become even more popular with the improving technology, which is becoming more and more capable of portraying various fantasy settings and motifs found throughout the legend, this thesis will analyze several of the more famous contemporary new media adaptations (namely in the form of films or series) and it aims to uncover any new approaches and ideas concerning the medieval legend. The chosen adaptations are the films Excalibur (1981), First Knight (1995), Guinevere (1994), King Arthur (2004) and the television miniseries Mists of Avalon (2001), the fact that these adaptations belong among the most well-known contemporary works based on the Arthurian legend is not however the only reason for the choice - all of these adaptations concentrate mostly on similar events or themes (such as adultery, religion, magic etc.) and furthermore some of them bring completely new approaches such as retelling the stories from a different point of view or changing the setting completely. This thesis mainly aims to determine the current trends and nuances in the portrayal of the Arthurian legend by analyzing the aforementioned representatives of its contemporary adaptations. 1.2 Introduction to the Contemporary Adaptations As previously stated, the main focus of the thesis is to determine the trends in contemporary portrayal of the Arthurian legend and its most integral stories in the new media adaptations. For that purpose, several films and a miniseries are analyzed and 5 compared to the original legend sources, mainly Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D 'Arthur - the most complete collection of the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. This subchapter serves as an introduction and an overview of the discussed contemporary adaptations. One of the probably most famous film renditions of the Arthurian legend is the film Excalibur (1981) directed by John Boorman. The film is based mostly on Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur with several changes in plotline. It covers the story from Arthur's conception, through his coronation, reign, the quest for the Holy Grail and his encounters with Mordred up until his death. The film attempts to capture many events of the Arthurian legend and it also focuses on characters such as Merlin, Morgana (Morgan le Fay), Lancelot, Perceval, king Uther and Igraine and several others. The cast of Excalibur (1981) includes actors such as Nigel Terry (in the role of Arthur), Helen Mirren (Morgana), Liam Neeson (Gawain) or Patrick Stewart (Leondegrance). Much like Excalibur (1981), the television miniseries Mists of Avalon (2001) (based on a bestseller by Marion Zimmer Bradley and directed by Uli Edel) portrays the events of the legend starting with Arthur's conception and ending after his death. The series however tells the story from Morgaine's (Morgan le Fay) point of view. It transforms the character of Morgaine from an antagonist into a protagonist and it puts the events of the legend into a new light. The series also concentrates on the society's transition from paganism to Christianity and the difficulties the pagan priestesses face with the coming of a new religion. Mists of Avalon (2001) covers the stories of Morgaine, Morgause (Margawse), Merlin, the Lady of the Lake, Arthur, Guinevere and many others; the series is cast by actors such as Julianna Margulies (Morgaine), Caroline Goodall (Igraine) or Joan Allen (Morgause). 6 The film Guinevere (1994) by Jud Taylor is another adaptation which tells the story of King Arthur and the characters around him from a different point of view. The story is told by Queen Guinevere and the film provides an in-depth insight into the queen's character, including her childhood, her time at Arthur's court and mainly her relationship with Lancelot and their affair. Guinevere (1994) takes a different approach to the love triangle between Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot and portrays the characters of Guinevere and Lancelot as childhood friends who fall in love before Guinevere marries Arthur. The film also concentrates on the schemes of Morgan le Fay and, as many other mentioned adaptations, on paganism and Christianity. The film also bears strong feminist messages, sometimes portraying feminist zealotry (in the case of Morgan le Fay) but mainly showing the importance and influence of a confident and self-sufficient woman behind the throne. The cast includes for example Sheryl Lee (Guinevere) or Donald Pleasence (Merlin). Another adaptation concentrating on the affair of Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere is the film First Knight (1995) by Jerry Zucker. The film mostly portrays the relationships between the characters of Lancelot, Arthur and Guinevere and concentrates on Guinevere's dilemma, Lancelot's attempts to seduce the queen and Arthur's struggle with their affair; starring actors such as Sean Connery (Arthur), Richard Gere (Lancelot) or Julia Ormond (Guinevere). Unlike the other selected adaptations, First Knight (1995) does not include any magical elements in the story. The most recent of the discussed adaptations is the film King Arthur (2004) by Antoine Fuqua, which portrays the story from a completely different angle - it abandons many of the traditional storylines and themes of the Arthurian legend and it claims to provide a new, more historically accurate take on King Arthur's story. The reason is that the film is based on the controversial Sarmatian hypothesis formulated by 7 C. Scott Littleton and Linda A. Malcor, which suggests that King Arthur was in fact a Roman officer named Lucius Artorius Castus who commanded a small troop of Sarmatian soldiers aginst Saxons in Britain around 182 AD. The film however preserves the clash of faiths and in small measure the love triangle between Lancelot, Arthur and Guinevere. The starring actors include Keira Knightley (Guinevere), Clive Owen (Arthur) or loan Gruffudd (Lancelot). 8 2. Character Portrayal Firstly the thesis will concentrate on the portrayal of a few major characters of the Arthurian legend in the legend sources and subsequently in the contemporary adaptations. Character development and emotional states become crucial part in contemporary storytelling - in a dramatic story the audience seeks characters they can identify with or sympathize with, and by concentrating more on emotion and less on action the creators develop a deeper bond and sympathy between the viewer and the character, therefore the thesis will analyze how the creators portray the chosen characters and how they tie them to the story in order to capture their audience.
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