Arthurian Mythology in the Twentieth Century: T.H. White and John

·.·0 .. J',J,·.;.. .: ~· <~ / " ARTHURIAN MYTHOLOGY IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY: T.B. WHITE AND JOHN STEINBECK'S INTERPRETATIONS OF MALORY'S MORTE DARTHUR by Helen Moffett Department of English Supervisor: Ms Lesley G. Marx Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of ~aster of Arts at the University of Cape Town March 1987 r .... t :~:t:.t:?~~~.1~:; -... : 1 .·.,. __ ( The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. ABSTRACT This thesis sets out to analyse and evaluate T.H.White's The Once and Future King and John Steinbeck's The Acts of King Arthur and his Noble Knights, two novels based on the Arthurian legend, and to investigate their reliance on Malory's Morte Darthur. A close critical reading of both texts is provided. The thesis begins by setting the novels in the context of the body of twentieth-century literature inspired by the Arthurian legend, and notes that both aspire to provide a fresh interpretation of the Morte Darthur. A broad outline of certain themes in the Morte Darthur which become central concerns in The Once and Future King and The Acts of King Arthur is given. A mythopoetic approach to the Morte Darthur is used, and it is examined as tragic and elegiac mythology in which archetypal characters appear. In the treatment of T.H. White's The Once and Future King, selective use is made of various contextual approaches to literature. In the first volume, The Sword in the Stone, the interaction of the work with the genres of comedy and fantasy is examined, and it is concluded that White makes use of both to create a pastoral idyll. It is suggested that the next three volumes, The Queen of Air and Darkness, The Ill-Made Knight and The Candle in the Wind, demonstrate a progressively ( tragic vision in which the idealism of the first volume is sorely tried by the relentlessness of fate, and the machinations of human beings. It is indicated that White creates his most successful balance between romantic idealism -i- and pessimistic realism in The Ill-Made Knight. It is also argued that The Candle in the Wind fails to maintain the intensity of Malory's tragedy and that The Book of Merlyn, the author's alternative ending to the saga, provides a more fitting ending to the entire cycle, although marred by White's bitterness and polemic argument. John Steinbeck's The Acts of King Arthur and Bis Noble Knights is examined in the light of the author's original aims to translate the Morte Darthur. It is suggested that the first chapters in which he does this are flat and sometimes laboured in comparison with the original, but that his last two sections, Gawain, Ewain and Marhalt and The Noble Tale of Sir Lancelot, provide a fresh and inventive approach. It is argued that in The Noble Tale of Sir Lancelot, Steinbeck comes to grips with the drama at the heart of the Morte Darthur as he introduces the eternal triangle in which the central characters are situated, and explores the potential for failure, even chaos, within the Round Table itself. The thesis concludes by drawing parallels between the two works and comparing their respective merits. It is maintained that while Malory's Morte Darthur cannot be improved upon, it is transmuted in the hands of White and Steinbeck into rich, lively and thought-provoking novels. - ii- This piece of work is dedicated to my mother, Dinah Rance Moffett, who always said that one should go to university to learn the truth. iii .. PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Like many before me, I was enchanted by the tales of Arthur and his knights from early childhood onwards. I first began thinking seriously about the mythic potency of the legend during my first year at UCT, after having heard Prof. John Cwnpsty lecture on the topic "A myth is neither true nor false,-_ but dead or alive". A year later, I was fortunate enough to he introduced to the wealth of Arthurian literature by Mrs Ruth Boxall's excellent course on the Arthurian legends. Researching and writing this thesis has been an ideal opportunity to combine my fascination with the strangely perennial power of certain narratives and myths to seize the creative imagination, and my love for the story of Arthur itself. In preparing this text, I made use of three different editions of Malory: D.S. Brewer's Malory: The Morte Darthur, Parts Seven and Eight, Janet Cowan's Le Morte Darthur by Sir Thomas Malory and E. Vinaver's Malory: Works. I used Brewer as a guideline in referring to Malory's great work as the Morte Darthur rather than Le Morte Darthur, and in order to regularise spelling, have quoted from either Brewer or Cowan's editions, which make use of modern spelling techniques. It will be noticed, however, that the spelling of the names of certain Arthurian characters differs from chapter to chapter. I have followed Malory's spelling according to D.S. Brewer for the first chapter, and have not altered White and Steinbeck's spelling of - iv .. proper names in my second and third chapters respectively. I have also left unchanged sexist and (regrettably 1 on one occasion) racist language when quoting from the texts, but have attempted to use inclusive language in the body of my thesis. In researching this thesis, I was struck by the dearth of critical work published on the Arthurian novels of White and Steinbeck. Both warrant a page or two in overviews of the Arthurian legend, and The Once and Future King is occasionally briefly referred to in dissertations on fantasy literature. As far as more comprehensive studies go, there is very little material on the subject of White's writings. Apart from a few articles in journals and books, the only major contributions are those of John Crane and Sylvia Townsend Warner. The latter, herself a writer and poet of remarkable ability, produced a sensitive biography on White which included some instructive commentary on his written work. Although I found her book invaluable in preparing my chapter on The Once and Future King, it remains primarily a source of biographical rather than critical data. The only critical survey, at present, of White's work as a whole is John Crane's self-confessedly superficial commentary. For my purposes, I found this to be too simplistic to use extensively. In the case of Steinbeck, there was no shortage of critical material on the broad spectrum of his novels. Most of these critical works, however, do not deal with The Acts of King Arthur and his Noble Knights, or refer to it only glancingly. Several journal articles on Steinbeck's Arthurian work have appeared, but these have without exception concentrated on the relationship between The .Acts of King Arthur and Steinbeck's other novels, or have -V~------··--· examined it for evidence of its author's creative processes. These approaches, while interesting, differed from mine to the extent that I could make little use of the information or insights offered. It should be stated that I make no comprehensive effort to locate the Arthurian novels of White and Steinbeck within the context of the body of their other works. For the purposes of this thesis, their interpretations of Malory are the primary focus of my attention. It will be seen that I devote more space to White's Arthuriana than to Steinbeck's. This is partly dictated by the differing lengths of the novels. White's work consists of five volumes which comprise more than 700 pages in total length, whereas Steinbeck wrote less than half this amount. More significant than the difference in length is the discrepancy between the two texts in terms of revision. Although The Once and Future King as it stands omits some of the material White dearly wished to include, he himself prepared it for final publication. Moreover, its constituent volumes had been carefully revised before their earlier publication as separate books. Steinbeck's The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights is both unrevised and incomplete. Put together for publication only after his death, it is clear that parts of it require extensive rewriting, if only to bring about consistency. The state of the text then, dictates a more tentative approach; it seems unjust to subject it to rigorous and detailed critical evaluation. One of the paradoxes of writing a thesis is that while it is ultimately a task for which the writer alone must take responsibility, it also necessitates the involvement of a supportive network. This thesis thus owes its existence to various individuals and institutions. Chief among the latter is the HSRC, which provided vital financial assistance, as did the University of Cape Town. While marking my gratitude, it must also be said that the opinions expressed and conclusions reached in this thesis are not necessarily those of the HSRC or the University. Special thanks are due to my supervisor, Ms Lesley Marx, for her meticulous supervision and dedicated involvement. It is thanks to her encouragement and commitment that writing this thesis has been relatively free of traumas. I am also grateful to Dr David Chidester of the Department of Religious Studies, for guiding my reading on the topic of mythology, and for obtaining for me material from America that would otherwise have been inaccessible.

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