An Examination of Malory's Arthur or There and Back Again

Abstract

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]