Women in Arthurian Legend - Term Paper Example

s School Women in Arthurian Legend The Arthurian legend is the British legacy as it is symbolic for patriotism, chivalry and heroic triumphs during that era. The Arthurian accounts have been reproduced in the works of various authors, the most significant ones being Mot De Arthur by Malory, Roman De Brut by Wace, and others; however, the most recent and postmodernist accounts have been reflected in the works of T. H White and Marrion Zimmer Bradley. The role of women particularly during the Twelfth Century has been overshadowed by the patriarchy and the female gender has only been a passive character especially in the ancient writings. They have been portrayed as objects to be utilized by the Knights or to play a role of an ornament in the lives of the men around them. Those who have rather played an important role have often been regarded as evil and lust seeking selfish creatures of the era. However, it was not until the recent authors gave a shift to the writings and reflected more neutral accounts of woman giving them a more respectable position in their writings. As a general perception depicted in the Grail Quests, the women have been the passive characters symbolic for beauty and a source of pleasure for the men, who drive the men towards their ultimate destination they are bound to achieve. Their sole purpose is to act as objects for the Knights, and satisfy them as their wives. However, those who have rather played a more influential role have been portrayed as evil and self-centered characters, being a threat to the patriarchy having elements of betrayal in their roles. Most of such characters have been unmarried women planning and trying to overpower the men, cheating them by having intimate relations with multiple men at the same time. These women of morally questionable values are known for using magical powers for influencing men (for instance lady of the lake), alongside using their sex appeal to drive men off the track they`re destined to follow. As mothers, the role of women though respected to some extent has not been portrayed as an influential one. Analyzing the writings from the medieval ages, the women playing the roles of mothers have been limited to giving birth. These characters often enter the story and after having fulfilled the requirement of mating their characters have been minimized to the maximum possible extent. Though the writings have been written from a highly male perspective, the paper aims at highlighting and specifically discussing the roles of various women from ancient as well as modern sources. For this reason, the roles of characters like Morgan and the Lady of the lake will be discussed to reflect on how magic was used to portray them as unreligious characters. Similarly, the roles of Morgaine, Viviane and even Morgaise will be analyzed from various accounts. The character of Guinevere will also be discussed in depth as she has been the most influential character is almost all pieces. Lastly, the role of some of the other women introduced by some other authors will also be introduced in the paper to add to the essence of the context. However, to give a modernist perspective to the paper, the post modernist as well as feminist accounts will also be incorporated to give the other side of the story. To understand the role of the women in the medieval society the culture needs to be kept under consideration, since it is the culture and the values, which determine the roles assigned to each gender in a society. The religious values and rituals dominate the medieval ages where moral values defined by the religion set the standards of the European society. This was a period marked by clerical reforms when monasteries aimed at transforming lives of individuals (Fries 1998). This is clearly felt in the role of women as depicted in the literature. Women were expected to exhibit the Virgin Mary character, which was the most pious role a woman could play in that culture. Thus, the Holy Grail by marked by the courtship being the most mystical trait of a good woman. Similarly, Knighthood was also a crucial element of the culture, which also influenced the woman to a great extent, rather affected the norms of courtship where knights were the most desired and masculine men who women wanted to court. (Fries 1998). Thus, while women were being judged by these standards the actions exhibited by the major characters in the texts deem them as immoral and lust seeking genders tempting men and later exhibiting inappropriate. The characters of Guinevere and Morgan are classic cases portrayed in various pieces where they have been addressed as evil and ill morale women. Morgan`s intent towards her brother Arthur were questionable from the very beginning as she was always planning against Arthur, thus exhibiting women as always the cruel and the cunning sex. Guinevere, on the other hand was a very strong character discussed in detail in the later part of the paper, but had a love affair with Lancelot despite the fact that she had married Arthur earlier on, also portrays that woman have a lust for sex and an innate capacity to cheat men. (Fries 1998). Most texts categorize women as damsels or recluses. Recluses are respected in the society owing to their religious character as these are old married women who enter into a phase of Asexualize and devote their lives towards the religious duties for their entire lives like the counterparts of the Hamlets i.e. old men who can`t pursue knighthood anymore. Their role into the lives of men however is also passive as they are either advisors to the men or rather admonishers. Moreover, damsels are young and virgin females whose role has often been depicted as being evil and those exhibiting opportunistic traits. Lunete represents a strong character who rather acts like a man, which makes her a threat to knighthood (Fries 1998). However, she uses magic to marry the murderer of her husband, thus being an evil character. Magic is one of the most apparent characteristic of the period, and most of the characters associated with this ritual are the women. Considering the theological perceptions prevailing during that period, magic was considered to be an evil, a tool used for manipulation and thus since it was often associated with women, it puts a question mark over the roles of these women. Coming to the role of a women as a mother in an Arthurian legend, “Mothers seem to appear only to disappear in Grail romances” as Peggy Mc Cracken puts it. The literature is taken up by instances when the role of the mothers disappears without leaving any impact on the quest. For instance, Peggy quotes Perceval`s mother who dies right when her son leaves for the quest. Similarly, Lanecot`s mother also dies soon in the narration when she loses an infant son, thus the pattern seems to be continuing. The case would have been different if the dearth of women had left some affect on the lives of the knights or their quests for that matter; however they were of no value. However, when fathers were not present in the scene it led towards the son taking up the charge of knighthood to replace the patriarchy of the father. This reflects the passiveness of the role of the mother in the text. The most important, rather the only role of the mother for that matter was to reproduce and that too produce a son to take over the knighthood for the family. Though the matrilineal lineage was important for the quest of the son as a cultural component but even that doesn’t signify the position of the mother as she still doesn’t have any role to play. However, there are instances when women have exercised some decision making powers for the family, but these were considered to be the traits of the cruel and the evil mothers. The categorization of the mothers can be traced by contrasting two mothers discussed above. Parceval`s mother was keeping all the secrets of chivalry from her son to stop him from going for the quest, as she was aware that she would die if the son leaves. On the other hand, Lanecot`s mother encouraged her son from going as she wanted the best for her son. Thus she is glorified as being a good woman and a good mother, however Parceval`s mother has been deemed as a selfish one (Cracken 1998). A role of a mother is therefore either unimportant in this context, however when the mother becomes a rather important figure she is associated with the evil characteristics. To further comment on the role of the women, particular characters can be discussed to analyze their roles and significance. The role of good women, rather their characters has been marginalized to a great extent in the medieval literature, as indicated by the writings from various sources. Two such characters of good woman Morgen as explained in the texts by Geoffrey and Nimune explained by Malory who was the wife of Pellas. Their roles haven’t been discussed much in the texts; however the evil roles have been maximized and much focused. For instance, the plots of Morgan have been intensified to a great extent as she was an evil character planning consistently against King Arthur (Cracken 1998). Similarly, another evil character has been Morgausse who developed intimate relations with King Arthur by using magic as a tool to manipulate him. Also, the characterization of the Lady of the lake is also a cruel one which is represented in entirety. Even the most modern and recent works over the Arthurian legend classifies women as being good or evil. The example of the Queen of Oakley fits well here as she had used magic and her sex appeal to manipulate men for her lust for power. Queen Morgaisse has been depicted as a self centered, yet bold individual with ulterior motives for power and lust for appeal. Even the most feminist authors like Bradley deem such characters as portraying evil desires. Since she was as evil as taking away the right of raising her son from her sister, she is the most classic example of a cruel woman. Thus, Morgaine has been contrasted to Morgaise by Bradley to contradict the good and the evil. (Woods 2007) Guinevere is however the most powerful women of the era, so much that the literature is rather incomplete without the description of her character. On one hand, she plays the role of betrayal in context to King Arthur, while on the other hand she offers purity and love for Lancelot whom she`s fair with. Thus, the ancient accounts portray her as a self centered and an immoral woman while in some later accounts her good character has also been put to focus (wood 2007). The turn into the character of Guinevere is interesting as she turns from an unfaithful wife to Arthur to a faithful one to Lancelot. And once the round table had been destroyed, she turned into a religious nun where she contributed her life towards religion, so that both she and Lancelot can seek eternal salvation. Malory has appraised Lancelot to a great extent, yet being biased more towards Lancelot and not appraising Guinevere. (Stefanidesova 2007) The modern narrations by the post modernists minimize the aspect of unfaithfulness of Guinevere ignoring the perspective that this turn out to be the tragic ending, and focusing more on the transformation of her character. She changed from a young innocent girl to a cunning and self centered individual who was ever faithful and loving towards her lover Lancelot. This is portrayed by the narrative when Lancelot returns from the quest after twenty years, and Guinevere was old yet trying to look attractive by being over dressed and by applying a lot of makeup to attract her lover towards her (Stefanidesova 2007). However, despite her true efforts she was not able to win Lancelot over and make him give up on his love for his queen. Thus, authors have rather portrayed this in a sympathetic way by focusing on the developmental changes she had undergone, as the theological element was absent from the writings of these modern authors. Guinevere was therefore a brave and a bold woman though she gave up and cheated on Arthur. (Wood 2007) There are many instances when other women have been mentioned by different authors. These women are no exception to the rule as they are either cruel or self centered, while those who are the good ones are those who are not influential. Igraine is an example of one such woman who lived in the castle when Arthur was born, and when Viviane offered her to borne the future high King she refused the offer. Later when she fell in love with Uther she makes use of magic to attract him. Moreover, the accounts of Bradley who is rather a feminist also talks about the female Goddesses who have been ignored from the ancient literature and focuses on this side of the women being influential characters in this context. (Stefanidesova 2007) Conclusively, for the most part the literature on Arthurian legends presents a patriarchal account of the Grail Quests, while the role of the women has been marginalized to a great extent. The role of the women has been confined to making love making objects for the Knights, and objects for seeking pleasure as a drive behind completing their quests. If in any case, the role of any woman has been significant enough she has been portrayed as an evil character with cruel motives, also a threat to the male patriarchy. Any woman who tries to influence the life of a man is considered to be immoral, and instances where women exhibited such characters have been over exaggerated. Also during the medieval ages, magic was considered as a greatest evil in the light of the theological knowledge, and this ritual has been mostly associated with woman thus their role being a negative one. Talking about the mothers, their role has also been marginalized. In fact, mothers have been found to disappear from the text after completing their desired job i.e. to give birth to sons. Those mothers who have tried to control the quests of the sons for any reason have been labeled as bad mothers. Commenting on the lives of various women during the era, though some of them have been evil but most of them have been marginalized. However, the post modernists and the feminists have put in various efforts to revive the roles of the women. Thus, Bradley and white for this reason have been quite sympathetic towards characters like Guinevere as they haven’t used a theological lens to analyze the characters. In fact, they have used a social and a de-constructivist lens to come up with neutral conclusions. Thus, the role of the women is subject to the lens being used to analyze them in context to the Arthurian legend. References CRACKEN, PEGGY MC. "Mothers in the Grail Quest: Desire, Pleasure, and Conception." JSTOR (1998): 35-48. FRIES, MAUREEN. "Gender and the Grail." JSTOR (1998): 67-79. Stefanidesova, Marie. "Perception of women of the Arthurian Legend in the middle ages and the twentieth century." BA thesis. 2007. Wood, Juliette. "The Holy Grail: From Romance Motif to Modern Genre." JSTOR (2007): 169 190. Read More