Transformation in Malory's Morte Darthur
In Morte Darthur (ca. 1469-70) Sir Thomas Malory (ca. 1405-1471) skillfully represents the passing of a social order. King Arthur's death is to be understood as more than a mere physical death, but as the foretelling of the demise of medieval chivalry (Abrams 447). An examination of the alteration, redemption or transformation of four central characters in Morte Darthur offers insight into how Malory represents pride as a commonplace but destructive human failing. Scrutiny of King Arthur, Lancelot, Guenevere and Gawain is suggestive of four distinctive patterns of pride as a destructive force. Collectively, by combining these four portraits of characters struggling to become less wilful, Malory offers a panoramic view of medieval values with its age-specific virtues and deficiencies.
Malory places King Arthur in one of the romance's most precarious positions. For Arthur realizes that those who he loves the most, his lovely queen Guenevere, and his favorite Knight of the Round Table, Sir Lancelot, have betrayed him by forming an adulterous relationship. As he struggles to continue ruling as a benevolent and wise king, he is tormented by this knowledge. The clandestine nature of their liaison seems to preclude his direct confrontation of the facts. Here King Arthur's pride is ensnared in the space of silence and impotence. He has been trained to rule and to dominate. He is speechless when he is handed a position of second rank. The weight of the insult which he suffers pushes him into a position where he seems almost incapable of action. As he intensifies his spying activities in monitoring Guenevere and Lancelot's dalliances, he retreats further into himself. Here his relationship with his wife deteriorates even further since he can neither trust nor communicate with her openly. The silence and impotence induced by his pride lead to disastrous conditions.
Encouraged by S...