Document Type

Thesis - University Access Only

Award Date

2010

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department / School

English

Abstract

Arthurian literature has been an important literary genre for hundreds of years. Although the legend seems undying and possibly, at first glance, basically unchanging, in the last several years, the genre has seen new developments involving the area of gender studies. In the years surrounding the blossoming of second-wave feminism in the United States and England, various female authors took on the Arthurian legend. This is especially significant because this genre is notorious for depicting women negatively or ambivalently, especially the often vilified woman, Morgan le Fay. This is true for the work of the most well-known Arthurians throughout the legend, including Geoffrey of Monmouth, Chretien de Troyes, the poet of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Thomas Malory, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and T.H. White. Various women were inspired by the climate of feminism to revamp the Arthurian story and reinvent the women of the genre who had been maligned or ignored. Perhaps the most significant achievement during this time is Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon (1982). Bradley is noteworthy not just because she puts women at the forefront of her book. Rather, it is how she highlights these women that is so significant. She brilliantly remains faithful to her source material, yet she shifts its emphases and fills in its gaps to tell her version of the legend and consequently elevate women. She accomplishes this in two ways. First, she reinstates the Celtic underpinnings of the Arthurian legend, particularly in the character Morgaine. The significance of this restoration is monumental. By using Celtic myth and legend that empowered and venerated female figures, Bradley could do the same for her women. Secondly, Bradley deals with the same institutions that well-known male Arthurians use to subvert women: patriarchal Christianity and chivalry. But instead of using these institutions as her predecessors do, Bradley deemphasizes them to elevate women. As she does this, she also implements the tenets of second-wave feminism into her work. With these combined tactics, Bradley celebrates and empowers the women of the Arthurian traditions who have too often been vilified or over-shadowed.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Bradley, Marion Zimmer Mists of Avalon

Bradley, Marion Zimmer -- Criticism and interpretation

Arthurian romances -- History and criticism

Women in literature

Feminism and literature

Morgan le Fay (Legendary character)

Format

application/pdf

Number of Pages

142

Publisher

South Dakota State University

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