William Alan Vaughn

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY I IDRmRIOOE THE MJRI'E DARIHUR: PARI'S VII AND VIII A thesis sul:mitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English by William Alan Vaughn May 1985 The Thesis of William Alan Vaughn is approved: David M. Andersen California State University, Northridge ii TABLE OF <nNI'ENI'S v ·Abstract. Page Chapter 1. Introcluction • • • • • • • 1 2. The Historical Model • 4 The Judgment of God 4 The Duel of Chivalry . .. 6 3. Malory 1 s Conception of Chivalry and the Trial by Combat • • • • • • • • • 8 The Fundamental Virtue of Action: Prowess • 9 The Appearance of Action • 13 Brute Strength for God: The Religious Duty of Fighting • • • 15 Winning Worship: The Desire for Honor • 19 The Conflict of Honor and Goodness • 21 The Conflict of Personal and Collective Honor 24 The ~rtal Magic of the Trial by Carbat 26 The Idealizatioo of Knighthood • • • • . 28 4. T-he Trial by Carbat in the Morte Darthur Parts VII and VIII • • • • • • 31 "The Poisoned Apple" 36 "The Knight of the Cart" • • 42 "Slander and Strife" • • -. .. 47 Aftennath of Gareth 1 s Death: Lance lot 1 s Honorable Defense • • • • · • • • • 56 s. Conclusion • • • • • • . .. 62 . 0 iii Notes 64 Bibliogra:fhy 68 iv TRIAL BY ca.181\T IN 'THE M)RI'E DARI'HUR: PARI'S VII AND VIII by William Alan Vaughn Master of Arts in English The trial by combat in Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur has often been discussed by critics as an important plot element in the tragedy of the Round Table fellCMship, w'hich occurs in parts VII and VIII: yet little attention has been focused on the thematic significance of the trial. The thesis is an analysis and evaluation of Malory' s thematic use of the trial by canbat in the Morte Darthur, parts VII and VIII. After the introduction in chapter one, a brief account of the historical trial by canbat, emphasizing the ethics and psychology of primitive European justice, is presented in Chapter two. Chapter three is devoted to presenting the trial by canbat as the embodiment of several chivalric values such as: Violent action, honor, and the idealization of knighthood. Literary and anthropological studies are consulted to support findings. Chapter four is a thematic analysis of the actual canbat trials in part VII and the rejection of the trial in part VIII. Examples from key episodes are exami·ned to demonstrate how Malory' s literary canbat trial reflects the worldliness of Lancelot and the fellowship's shift away from an active belief in divine intervention, which is paramount in the historical trial. The fellowship's dependence on an idealistic, archaic mode of justice, one which separates appearance from reality, and honor from goodness, sets loose the destructive actions of Aggravain and Mordred in part VIII. Arthur's rejection of the trial by combat, which reflects a shift toward r~alism, contributes to social Chaos and the tragic division of the Round Table fellowship. vi CHAPTER 1 Introduction Critics of Sir Thanas Malory' s Morte Darthur have devoted a good deal of attention to explaining the various causes and agents Which lead to the destruction of King Arthur's Round Table fellowship. Within this body of criticism, the trial by canbat in Malory' s last two talesl has been alluded to primarily as an ~rtant plot element which provides a climactic resolution in "The Poisoned Apple" and "The Knight of the Cart." Yet the thematic function of the trial by canbat, which develops through the t\\0 successfully executed trials in the episodes mentioned above and also through Arthur's rejection of the trial in "Slander and Strife," has not yet been fully examined. The three episodes mentioned all share a similar sequence of events: Guinevere is accused of treason and is rescued fran being burnt at the stake by Lancelot. Although sane critics have ccmnented on the trial by canbat and the recurring rescue scenes in the last tales, there has been no atterrpt to relate the explicit action of the trial to the nore implicit thematic patterns found in the tragedy. The purpose of the present study is therefore to examine the thematic function of the trial by canbat in Malory' s last tales. That Arthur's court rejoices in the successfully executed trials by canbat in the seventh tale is not surprising, because aside from a judicial process, the trial itself is an adventure which provides the knight a chance to test and prove his worth: " . • • trial through adventure is 1 2 the real meaning of the knight 1 s ideal existence ... 2 Adventure, the essential feature of romance literature, is employed in the trial by combat to establish social order. Yet the significance of the trial goes beyond this practical application. The cx:mbat trial embodies the chivalric philosophy of violent action, as well as the knighthood 1 s need for visual manifestations to externalize abstract values such as justice. Chapter three of this study deals with these associations as well as the intimate relation between the combat trial and the Chivalric code of honor. Yet the most important issue to the study of the combat trial in the last tales is Malory 1 s transformation of the historic model of the trial, which was based on a belief in providential intervention, into a literary trial Which reflects the worldliness of Lancelot, and is based on the self-idealism of knighthood itself. Therefore the purpose of Chapter t\\10 is to set forth the original concept of the trial, whidh is a "judgrrent of God." In the last tales, the knights abaOOon the divine meaning of the original trial in favor of their am nortal magic. Chapter four deals with the actual trials in the "The Poisoned Apple, " "The Knight of the Cart" and the rejection of the trial in "Slander and Strife." Chapter four demonstrates in these episodes the ideas discussed in Chapter three. In "The Poisoned Apple" and "The Knight of the Cart," the social order of the Round Table fellOW'ship is maintained through a reverent belief and adherence to the archaic ritual of the trial by combat, which, as a mode of legal procedure has "no real logical connection between satisfying the form and providing truth or untruth."3 In "Slander and Strife," Aggravain and Mordred make public 3 the adultery of Lancelot and Guinevere. Arthur can oo longer ignore the facts of this reality, and thus he is forced to reject the trial by combat as a means of resolving the scandal. The loss of the formally sanctioned aambat trial in this instance leads to immediate and irreversible social chaos When Lancelot accidentally kills Gareth While rescuing the queen by force. Gawain VCMS to avenge the death of his slain kinsmen and from that point the fellowship is broken into the warring clans of Lancelot and Arthur. The legendary material that Malory inherited necessitated the destruction of the Arthurian fellowship: yet it is Malory•s unique interpretation of the tragedy that makes his book worthy of investigation beyond source material. For Malory, the tragedy is imminent in the last tale because Arthur•s ideal society cannot continue to believe the illusion of the trial by CCI'Ii:>at-nor can they continue to live without the illusion. The rejection of the trial in the eighth tale is not in itself the cause of the tragedy no m:>re than are the successful trials in the seventh tale the cause of order. The trials are, however, reflections of the human notivations, idealistic and realistic, that are the source of the tragedy. OlAPTER 2 The Historical Model Unlike Arthur's Round Table, the trial by combat is not of a literary origin but rather of an historical origin. This.chapter presents basic information on the historical trial by combat, emphasizing the philosophy behind the process more than actual procedures, for the purpose of providing a basis for further discussion of the trial in Malory. Malory's literary trial differs considerably fran much of its historical ancestor, yet a brief survey of the historical trial by combat can give us sane idea of heM the primitive mind approaches matters of justice, an idea which will gain relevance as our study progresses. The Judgment of God The oath, the ordeal and the trial by carbat are all forms of the judicium Dei, which is an appeal to the supernatural to decide the innocence or guilt of the accused. The oath was a simple testirrony of one's innocence, sworn before the presence of God, and under the threat of divine vengeance the oath was taken as proof of one's innocence. The trial by ordeal called for the accused person to subject himself to some painful exercise such as submerging a hand into a pot of boiling water. The resultant degree of burning on the hand would indicate either innocence or guilt. Whether the oath or the ordeal was taken, the result was regarded as divine judgment. 4 5 When, in A.D. 501, King Gundebald of the Burgundians suspected that many oath takers were successfully escaping punishment by perjuring themselves, he established the judicial camat, so that the defendant and plaintiff could "decide the controversy by dint of S\'v'Ord." 4 "The judicial canbat is an ordeal, a bilateral ordeal. • It was a sacral process. What triumphed was not brute force but truth. The combatant that was worsted was a convicted perjurer" (PolloCk and Maitland 600). The judicial duel was still a judgroont of God, yet the bilateral, campetitive nature of the combat gave the accused, for the first time, a chance to actively "defend" his case, which was hardly possible in carrying a red-hot iron in the unilateral ordeal.

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