53 Samantha St. John – Examining the Feminine Presence in Malory’s Le Morte D’arthur
Samantha St. John is a third-year student majoring in English and focusing on Technical and Professional Writing. She lives in Indiana with her husband and four dogs and loves all things reading and writing. This paper was done as a research and analysis paper for her L306 Medieval English Literature class. Professor Alisa Clapp-Itnyre notes, “It is a pleasure to nominate Samantha’s paper, a longer feminist application to Malory’s Morte d’Arthur, with critical backing, focusing on three minor women of the tale. A very, very thorough argument. Good job!”
Examining the Feminine Presence in Malory’s Le Morte D’arthur
Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur weaves together a tale about heroic knights, a code of chivalry, and a noble king while also weaving in threads of treason and political disaster. Women in Malory’s text, apart from Guenevere, seem to take secondary roles, merely objects in the background for Arthur’s knights to use as they spring themselves forward in their own narrative. As many of the tales involve damsels in distress or women being used to further the goals of men, it is difficult to recognize any larger role women may have served in Malory’s story. However, Geraldine Heng’s article, “Enchanted Ground: The Feminine Subtext in Malory,” argues that the subtext of feminine presence and involvement changed and altered the main textual components surrounding the otherwise very masculine narrative. Heng demonstrates how the masculine narrative could not move forward without its feminine counterpart. Furthermore, Melissa Ridley Elmes’ article, “Women Reading and Women Writing and Men Writing Women Who Read and Write: (Re-) Considering Women’s Literature Practices and the Ethics of Women’s Literacy in Malory’s Morte Darthur” attempts to reconcile the more disparaging points on feminine presence within the text by demonstrating how Malory attempts to rewrite some of the prominent women—namely Queen Guenevere and Queen Isode—from the very harsh sources where Malory drew inspiration. While Elmes believes Malory ultimately failed in his ethical duty to effectively change these women and evolve them from the negative undertones surrounding them, I would argue that Malory was more successful than he is credited. The following essay will explore some components of the female narrative in Malory’s Le Morte Darthur as well as examine how Malory attempted to balance the feminine and masculine narratives.
As the story is set so much on Arthur and the individual Knights of the Round Table, any narrative about women seems mitigated and second-class, but Heng believes that the sometimes subtle, sometimes overt insertions of the submerged feminine narrative interplayed with and often prompted the largely depicted masculine narrative (836). Ultimately, this would mean that the story of Arthur and his knights, the masculine narrative, could not move forward without the subtly seen feminine narrative, and could not exist without the feminine narrative’s involvement as Heng notes, “Only after the action has been finalised and suitably glossed can the Round Table be formally inaugurated” (836). Further, until the feminine narrative did something to directly rouse the masculine narrative, the latter was held in limbo and could not advance. Heng identifies two tropes exemplifying how the feminine narrative affects the masculine narrative, which are magic and magical resources as well as the simple enchantment of love (838).
After Merlin’s departure from the story, enchantresses like Morgan le Fey and Nyneve, the Lady of the Lake, are left to fill the role of magic user in the text. Their interactions with Arthur, particularly involving Excalibur, create small levels of turmoil as, “between the theft of the weapon by Morgan, and its partial retrieval by Nyneve, has his fate irrevocably sealed” (Heng 837). The enchantment of love, not truly a magical enchantment but rather a powerful emotional reaction, is seen throughout many relationships between women and men in Malory’s text, most especially between ladies and the knights who served them. What the element of love accomplishes in Malory’s text is what Heng describes as, “the displacement of a purely masculine and primarily martial discourse with…a sophisticated, feminine-presided discourse of emotion and relation” (839). Now that Arthur has won his kingdom and married his queen, a new form of civilization must arise for his chivalric code to thrive. In a world dominated by martial discourse, society cannot fully thrive, so this idea of love and the style of feminine discourse that follows become of paramount importance to the success of Arthur’s kingdom.
Elmes’ argument focuses on how Malory enhances the role of women in attempting to rewrite certain female characters in a better light and evolving them into a more established and tangible character. Malory’s efforts to elevate his female characters fell short in the eyes of many scholars of feminist matters, as Elmes notes that “his efforts also betray his own ethical uncertainty as author and adapter of his source materials for an audience including women with substantial sociopolitical clout” (86). At the center of Elmes’ argument is a woman of prominent influence, Queen Guenevere, and the letters she exchanged with Queen Isode. As both women engage in adulterous affairs, with the former’s affair being the eventual downfall of Arthur’s kingdom, Elmes believes that Malory is ultimately unable to effectively alter the perception of these women in a better light as compared to the source material Malory first uses. For Malory’s text to remain true to his source of inspiration, as a retelling of the same story, the two women “must contribute as well to the failure of Arthur’s court, and thus, of the [Pentecostal] Oath at the heart of the ethical program” (Elmes 89). However, the fact that he made the conscious effort to do this shows a keen interest in wanting to create something more akin to equilibrium between the men and women of the story.
Women in this world acquired meaningful power, influence, and standing—even if severely limited—through the willing participation of a knight, but it meant that women could obtain more presence in the world. The actions of the knight are seen as done on her behalf, or for her, and thus she becomes entangled in the knight’s fame and reputation. Moreover, this allows women some semblance of power and control as the knights acting for their benefit now supplies “effective means for actualisations of feminine will, creating an agency by which women may be active in the world” (Heng 842). This dynamic between knight and lady is of a symbiotic nature, too, as it is not only the women who benefit. Certainly, the knight gains reputation and power for successfully completed quests, but it is the dynamic between knight and lady that fuels the growth of a knight’s prestige and renown in the new world that Arthur’s court attempts to create.
By remaining focused on the actions of the many minor female characters in the text, it allows for the examination of the circumstances and influence exerted by characters such as Igrayne, Elayne le Blanke, and Alyne. While prominent characters such as Queen Guenevere are expected to move the story in significant ways, there needs to be more focus on how the minor or lesser-known female characters contribute in their own way in directing the course of the story. The narrative begins not with Arthur’s ascent to the throne or at the beginning of his reign, but rather with his conception. Specifically, it follows the plotting and scheming done by Uther Pendragon, Arthur’s father, to sleep with and beget Arthur on Igrayne.
The part “How Uther Gate Kyng Arther” establishes the unsettled atmosphere between warring lords, which in this case is between Uther Pendragon and the Duke of Tyntigail, Igrayne’s first husband, but is a theme that is often revisited and replayed within the text. Wars, especially of this scale, often put women in horrible positions, who must then make difficult choices. When the Duke and Igrayne meet with Uther in good faith to discuss terms of peace, it is Uther’s lust for Igrayne that jeopardizes everything. As Igrayne will not betray her husband and sleep with Uther, and the two flee the castle, arousing Uther’s rage, he continues the war in earnest. Here, Igrayne shows that a woman’s acceptance or refusal of a man’s sexual advances can determine the course of an entire kingdom. If the Duke of Tyntigail had won the war, for example, the added levels of death and suffering—due to Igrayne’s refusal—might have been laid at her feet.
When the Duke and Igrayne split up on their return journey, Uther sees his opportunity, and along with the help of Merlin, creates a plan that will allow him to sleep with Igrayne. When the King departs from the Duke’s castle, the Duke believes he has an opportunity to defeat the army, allowing him to go to the aid of his wife, but it is through this decision that “the duke hymself was slayne or ever the Kynge cam at the castel of Tyntigall” (Malory 5). Little more than three hours after the death of the Duke, Uther has slept with Igrayne, wearing the likeness of the Duke to do so, and conceiving Arthur in the process. As part of the agreement between Uther and Merlin for this plan, the latter asks that any child born of this union be given to him to raise, to which the former agrees, and as soon as Arthur is born he is whisked away by the wizard, but because Igrayne’s child was taken from her, it leads to the eventual incestuous relationship between Arthur and his half-sister, Morgawse, resulting in Mordred’s begetting, who later in life plays a very direct role in Arthur’s downfall and death. Igrayne never recognizes Arthur as her son until well after he is crowned king and his lineage is discovered, and because he was never raised as Igrayne’s son, she could not inform him of his relationship to her other children.
Pellinore’s daughter, Alyne, is encountered in the story, “The Weddyng of Kyng Arthur,” when during the celebration and feasting that followed the wedding, three knights—of which Pellinore is one—seek to join the Round Table as one of Arthur’s famous knights. Each is given a quest to accomplish, and how these men accomplish their quests determine if they should sit at the table, as well as influence the Pentecostal Oath, Arthur’s Chivalric Code, that would then serve as the guidelines and oath undertaken by all knights serving him. Pellinore’s single-minded focus is on fulfilling his quest to retrieve a lady taken from court, even to the detriment of a young lady who begs for help for the wounded knight with her. The injured knight dies of his wounds after Pellinore refuses to help, and the young lady in her sorrow slays herself with the knight’s sword. After Pellinore’s return to court, it is Merlin who reveals that this knight was a good man, and the woman’s love who would have married her had he survived, and even more that the lady herself was Alyne, Pellinore’s own daughter begot from another lustful tryst.
Alyne’s death remains as one of Pellinore’s biggest regrets, a choice that will remain with him, and “shall do days of my lyff” (Malory 77). Her involvement in the story is very short, referenced only a couple times during the story of Pellinore’s quest. However, his failure to help this woman, his daughter no less, paves the way for part of Arthur’s Pentecostal Oath, primarily in the decree that his knights “allwayes to do ladyes, damesels, and jantilwomen and wydowes [socour], strengthe hem in hir ryghtes,” (Malory 77). In short, knights were expected to always aid women, to give them strength when their need is great. Had Pellinore stopped long enough to help Alyne, then perhaps two lives would not have been lost, and he might have reconnected with a daughter unknown to him.
The story of Elayne le Blanke, the Maid of Astolat, shows how women attempting to establish this connection between knight and lady can lead to the fallout of much bigger issues, like small pebbles before the oncoming avalanche. As a fair and good young lady, Elayne is loved by her family and those of the community and is completely smitten with Lancelot after he befriends her brother before the tournament. After Lancelot recovers from a wound received in the tournament, Elayne feels emboldened enough to beseech him to marry her, but he denies her as he is, by now, devoted to Guenevere. Elayne’s persistence induces her to ask to be his paramour, and that she cares not of the consequences of these actions due to her great love for him, but Lancelot, ever the shining knight, denies her on grounds that he could not treat her or her family so poorly. Given no alternative, Elayne claims that if she cannot have his love she must then die. Her resulting death, and the letter she writes explaining it, bring sorrow to everyone who are made privy to the details, leaving a greatly saddened Lancelot to bury the lady, offer a masse-peny, and pray for her soul, all of which were her final wishes (Malory 617).
Before the start of the tournament, and the final events leading to her death, she asks Lancelot to wear a token of hers, “a rede sleve of myne, of scarlet, well embrowdred with grete perelles” (Malory 600), and this feminine token advances the plot in multiple ways. While it initially serves to help Lancelot with his disguise at the tournament, news of his wearing this token spurs Guenevere to urge him to wear her own token in a future tournament. These actions further the plot by enhancing the adulterous affair between Guenevere and Lancelot, a near direct result of Elayne’s own contribution to the tale. Whether from grand gifts or small tokens of favor, the feminine subtext within Malory’s tale serves as the primary reason that the masculine narrative between Arthur and his knights can move forward to its conclusion.
Malory spends much of his time and effort refreshing the characterization of the women in the text, as in their original sources there tended to be many disparaging and misogynistic commentaries about their persons. As he applies careful attention in correcting this view of his female characters, he can effectively alter the narrative of these women, and by enhancing their social, political, and economic activities, as well as the friendships they develop through these activities, also enhances the cultural framework for his fictional setting (Elmes 95). However, Elmes finds fault with Malory’s attempts to reconcile the women of Le Morte Darthur in a better light when they continue their role in the downfall and failure of the Oath, and that “Malory’s effort to present women’s relationships as positive forces in this narrative also fails” (Elmes 96).
The hesitance in accepting this view arises from looking beyond just the letter writing and social interactions of these women. Guenevere is shocked at the outcome and with her own part in the Oath’s failing and Arthur’s death. Although she and Lancelot could now reunite, without fear of treason, Guenevere turns him away. She tells of the role she and Lancelot played in the downfall of the kingdom and for the resulting war and death that came because of their actions: “Thorow thys same man and me hath all thys warre be wrought, and the deth of the moste nobelest of knyghtes of the worlde; for thorow oure love that we have loved togydir ys my moste noble lorde slayne” (Malory 691-692). Her willingness to accept her part in the destruction of the Pentecostal Oath shows guilt and remorse, and her answer for this level of regret is to become a nun until she dies. While there may be arguments over a woman having to join a nunnery to show proper remorse, I argue that in Malory’s time this may have been the most effective way to show and establish guilt and the desire for repentance.
Le Morte Darthur is a tale based on the nobility and heroism of King Arthur and his knights, and Malory wrote women into the story in such a way that his masculine narrative could not thrive without the feminine narrative. Without the feminine elements within the story, Arthur and his knights would not have proper reason to act nobly or heroically. Through elements of love and magic, the women in Malory’s text alter or enhance the overall narrative, sometimes serving as the only way to push it further along. Malory wanted to alter the source text regarding the women and to give them positive characterization and attempt to reconcile them in a very meaningful way. That the women still contribute to the fall of Arthur and his kingdom, causing the Oath to fail, does not necessarily mean that Malory failed in his endeavor. He establishes his female characters as people who recognize and acknowledge their mistakes and want to seek reconciliation and repentance in significant ways, as much as they know how to do.
Works Cited
Elmes, Melissa Ridley. “Women Reading and Women Writing and Men Writing Women Who Read and Write: (Re-) Considering Women’s Literate Practices and the Ethics of Women’s Literacy in Malory’s Morte Darthur.” Arthuriana, Volume 33, Number 2, Summer 2023, pp. 84-103.
Heng, Geraldine. “Enchanted Ground: The Feminine Subtext in Malory” in Le Morte Darthur: A Norton Critical Edition. 1st Ed. Stephen H. A. Shepard. pp. 835-849.
Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte Darthur: A Norton Critical Edition. 1st Ed. Stephen H. A. Shepard.