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Having Ado with Lancelot Having Ado with Lancelot: A Chivalric Reassessment of Malory's Champion by Jesse Michael Brillinger Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (English) Acadia University Fall Convocation 2010 © Jesse Michael Brillinger 2010 This thesis by Jesse M. Brillinger was defended successfully in an oral examination on ___________. The examining committee for the thesis was: ________________________ Dr. Barb Anderson, Chair ________________________ Dr. Kathleen Cawsey, External Reader ________________________ Dr. Patricia Rigg, Internal Reader ________________________ Dr. K. S. Whetter, Supervisor _________________________ Dr. Herb Wyile, Acting Head This thesis is accepted in its present form by the Division of Research and Graduate Studies as satisfying the thesis requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (English). …………………………………………. ii I, Jesse M. Brillinger, grant permission to the University Librarian at Acadia University to reproduce, loan or distribute copies of my thesis in microform, paper or electronic formats on a non‐profit basis. I, however, retain the copyright in my thesis. ______________________________ Jesse M. Brillinger ______________________________ K.S. Whetter, Supervisor ______________________________ Sep. 19, 2010 iii Table of Contents Introduction: Malory, Chivalry and Lancelot ............................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Medieval Chivalry in Literature and Life ............................................................. 10 Chapter 2: Lancelot, Love, and Chivalry ...................................................................................... 29 Chapter 3: Urry, Lancelot, and the Death of Chivalry ............................................................ 57 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................ 85 Works Cited ............................................................................................................................................. 89 iv Abstract Having Ado with Lancelot: A Chivalric Reassessment of Malory's Champion by Jesse M. Brillinger This thesis advocates an approach to Malory's Morte Darthur that is focused on the presentation of knights and chivalry. The thesis argues that a study of the Morte which considers the historical practice of English knighthood offers a unique approach to understanding Malory's text and the treatment of Lancelot. The thesis offers an overview of fifteenth‐century English knighthood and considers the Morte alongside other medieval works concerned with chivalry such as the alliterative Morte Arthure and the Awyntyrs off Arthure. Taking Malory's Pentecostal Oath as the standard for chivalry in Le Morte Darthur, the thesis reassesses the status of Lancelot's knighthood. Particular attention is given to chivalric virtues and the ways in which chivalry is compromised by Lancelot's involvement with Guinevere, both Elaines, and with Urry. The thesis concludes that a sustained chivalric critique reveals Lancelot as a flawed hero torn between love and the stringent demands of chivalry. v 1 Introduction: Malory, Chivalry, and Lancelot Any consideration of a fifteenth‐century literary text such as Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur should begin with a consideration of the social and literary climate into which the text was born. After all, just as each author is shaped and influenced by his or her own experiences, so too is each author's text infused with the author's unique experiences and the subtle cultural nuances that defined his or her days. Literature of the fifteenth‐century, like the literature of today, was not composed in a vacuum, devoid of engagement with the society and culture in which those works were penned. Malory, like many of his contemporaries, was directly influenced by the times in which he lived and the political turmoil that marked his age. Malory's famous lament on the fickle loyalty of the English is just one example of the sustained engagement the Morte makes between Arthurian fiction and the author's interpretation of contemporary fifteenth‐century English politics. Lo ye all Englysshemen, se ye nat what a myschyff here was? For he that was the moste kynge and nobelyst knyght of the worlde, and moste loved the felyshyp of noble knyghtes, and by hym they all were upholdyn, and yet myght nat thes Englyshmen holde them contente with hym. Lo thus was the olde custom and usayges of thys londe, and men say that we of thys londe have nat yet loste that custom. Alas! thys ys a greate defaughte of us Englysshemen, for there may no thynge us please no terme. (1229. 6‐14)1 Malory's remarks in this particular passage demonstrate a clear concern with the political instability that is destroying the England he knows, just as a similar 1 Unless otherwise stated, all parenthetical citations are to Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur as printed in The Works of Sir Thomas Malory, ed. Eugène Vinaver, 3rd ed. rev. P. J. C. Field (Oxford: Clarendon, 1990). 2 instability destroyed the England of Arthur. Such engagement is all the more pronounced here since Malory's lament on English fickleness is not based upon any source, but is rather the author's own invention.2 Examples like this, and the treatment of numerous elements throughout Malory's narrative, demonstrate the existence of a central and fundamental concern that extends beyond a simple retelling of the Arthurian tales. Selective narrative intrusions, willful distortion of source material, and at times over‐kind characterization, mark Malory's Arthuriad as a literary text that is forcefully engaged with the cultural and material realities which defined the author's age. It is my contention throughout this thesis that the most important reality underlining Malory's text and age is chivalry. Dhira B. Mahoney argues that, The term chivalry as it is used in late fourteenth‐ and fifteenth‐ century English romance has not travelled far from the etymological origins of the word: it might be defined as the code of conduct subscribed to by the chevalier or warrior on horseback, or, as a secondary meaning, the class or body of persons to which he belongs. Nor is the concept as it appears in literature much removed from actual life. (529) Accordingly, in the first chapter of this thesis I will offer an overview of knighthood and chivalry in order to demonstrate the pervasive cultural concern with the institution of knighthood in the Middle Ages. By examining other medieval works such as the Morte Arthure and Awyntyrs off Arthure, I will demonstrate the existence of a fundamental medieval concern with the lived practice of knighthood, a concern 2 Eugène Vinaver argues for the originality of this passage stating, "There is nothing in either of M's sources that could have suggested this . the reference to popular discontent in M is surely a reminiscence of contemporary events, not of literary sources" ("Commentary." The Works of Sir Thomas Malory, 1647). 3 I argue is replicated most sharply in Malory's work. Indeed, the strong narrative focus on knighthood, and the seriousness with which knighthood was engaged by its contemporaries, lends credence to suggestions that Malory and his contemporary audience would have expected questions of conduct to be raised when discussing knightly action. This expectation for debate makes it far easier to understand the delicate treatment Malory affords his knighted subjects and offers a potential avenue for further investigation into the most contentious of Malory's knights, Sir Lancelot. The second chapter will seek to unravel the presentation of Malory's Lancelot in matters of love. As I argue, Lancelot's relationship with Guinevere is a highly problematic union given the expectations of medieval chivalry. This point is most clearly seen in the dire results of Lancelot and Guinevere's love, the repercussions of which shake Arthur's Round Table fellowship to its very core. This reality certainly forces Malory's reader to reconsider the nature of Lancelot and Guinevere's union and certainly forces questions about Malory's presentation of this illicit love given the impropriety and institutional damage caused by such a union. In order to support this assertion, I will demonstrate that Malory, in unique fashion, altered the Maid of Ascolat episode to present his Lancelot with a more eligible and marriageable alternative to Guinevere. Further, Malory also chose to include specific rebukes of the lovers that highlight the problematic nature of Lancelot's love affair with the queen. Despite efforts by Malory to lessen the culpability of Lancelot and Guinevere, it is quite apparent from Malory's ambivalent presentation 4 of the entire relationship that, while perhaps unavoidable, their love is the cause of great tragedy for England. The third chapter will focus on the actions of Lancelot as they relate to the "Healing of Sir Urry" and the death of Lancelot. I will argue that the Urry episode, far from establishing Lancelot's superiority, instead forces him (and Malory's reader) to confront Lancelot's claim to the title of "beste knyght of the worlde," given his less than ideal conduct in matters of the heart. I will demonstrate that the Urry episode, unique among Malory's sources, is an important moment because it at once shows Lancelot as the best and worst of Arthurian knighthood, struggling internally with the knowledge that his transgressions impinge
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