Arthurian Intertextualities
Misreading and Rereading Malory's Morte Darthur and the Alliterative and Stanzaic Mortes
Reinterpreting Malory’s major contexts and characters: Arthur and Guenevere, Launcelot and his two Elaynes, and Palomydes and Trystram and Isode
Description
Readers encountering the Middle English Arthurian tradition are confronted by three texts with confusingly similar titles: an anonymous poem in alliterative verse called Morte Arthure, an anonymous poem in eight-line stanzas entitled Le Morte Arthur, and Sir Thomas Malory’s influential prose Arthuriad, LeMorte Darthur [sic]. To add to the confusion, Malory made use of both English poems to augment his French sources in composing his Morte Darthur, so specialists often speak of two or more of these English Mortes in the same breath. Yet each Morte poem deserves to be studied on its own merits.
Arthurian Intertextualities offers new readings of Malory’s Morte as well as the two English poems that most influenced him. Tolhurst and Whetter situate Malory’s Arthur story in the context of fourteenth- and fifteenth-century England. Combining these contexts with intertextual analysis of scenes and characters from Le Morte Darthur and both sources, the authors illustrate the full extent of Malory’s debt to these two English poems while making a stronger case for Malory’s artistry—and the stanzaic-poet’s artistry—than previous scholarship has acknowledged. These new readings demand a reassessment of Arthurian women, kingship, and warfare and heroism, including reconsidering the alliterative-poet’s attitude to war and to Arthur as conqueror. The authors also offer a spirited defense of Malory’s Guenevere, who remains frequently maligned by scholars, and argue for Palomydes’s acceptance by his Round Table Fellowship. Arthurian Intertextualities will appeal to readers who are interested in the book that serves as the source for most of the Arthuriana (whether novels, plays, works of art, or films) in today’s world: Le Morte Darthur.
Fiona Tolhurst was Professor of Medieval English and Chair of the Department of Language and Literature at Florida Gulf Coast University.
K. S. Whetter is Professor of Medieval English in the Department of English and Theatre at Acadia University.
Reviews
“Reassessment of the Alliterative and Stanzaic Mortes is long overdue, and examining both in the same book and in the context of their better-known prose version is a welcome intervention in the field of medieval English Arthurian studies. The authors make a substantial contribution to our interpretation of Malory’s Morte Darthur.”
- Nicole Clifton, Northern Illinois University
“This important study of intertextual relationships between Malory’s Morte Darthur and its sometimes-ignored English sources and the French prose Tristan is essential reading for Malorians. Its impressive review of earlier scholarship frequently challenges earlier interpretations (including some of mine) and offers new perspectives on Malory’s Arthur, Lancelot, Gwenyvere, and Palomydes.”
- Edward Donald Kennedy, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
“This book smartly considers the three English Mortes and several of their key characters alongside each other and against generations of criticism. Tohurst and Whetter read these texts closely and deftly. The result is a sweeping and at-times radical reassessment of the Mortes and a new foundation for future scholars.”
- Molly Martin, University of Indianapolis
“Arthurian Intertextualities brilliantly explicates Thomas Malory’s adaptation of the alliterative and stanzaic English Mortes, offering a fresh, nuanced appreciation for the literary achievements of both Malory and his two predecessors. Exhaustively researched, compellingly argued, and even-handed with earlier criticism, Arthurian Intertextualities stands in the first rank of Morte Darthur studies.”
- Michael W. Twomey, Ithaca College
“Tolhurst and Whetter take on the challenge of showing the connections between Malory's Morte Darthur and the Alliterative and Stanzaic Mortes. This work is very helpful in seeing where Malory gets some of his sources for his famous work and in understanding how it connects to them. Summing up: recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals.”
- D. Timmons, Choice