Jules proposal

The working title for my paper is “Malory’s Guinevere: The Role of Queen.”
In my final paper, I will be investigating how Sir Thomas Malory characterizes Queen Guinevere in his Le Morte Arthur, specifically focusing on The Tale of Sir Launcelot and Queen
Guinevere but also weaving in significant elements from later parts of the text (such as from The Death of Arthur, which will be relevant because of Arthur’s treatment of Guinevere after he must publicly address her infidelity to him, and her fate overall). Specifically, my investigation should uncover what the function of Guinevere’s role is in Malory’s writing and how much power she is depicted as having, as well as how this relates to (differs from? is informed by?) the 15th-century world that Malory was living in and the actual position of queen during this era. My purpose is to come to an understanding of why Malory chose to create Guinevere’s identity as he did; how he shows her operating as not just a woman/medieval lady, but as a queen; and what the implications of this are for how we interpret Malory’s contribution to the Arthurian canon. Some issues I am considering include how, in the “Poisoned Apple” episode of the text, we readers are given a Guinevere who has a significant (unexpected, maybe) amount of independence and political authority. Instead of whispering advice into Arthur’s ear and trying to exert her influence as queen through such indirect methods, she is making decisions more or less autonomously (critic J. L. Laynesmith points out how the role of king during the late Middle Ages was determined largely by how queenship was performed). Arthur’s presence in the court, meanwhile, is downplayed. For example, Guinevere “discharge[s]” Lancelot from the court and oversees a politically-strategic banquet to draw attention away from her affair with him (Malory 163). Later on, in the episode where Meliagaunt abducts her, Guinevere exhibits leaderly qualities. It is her knights that are loyal to her and whom she gives herself up to Meliagaunt for (“slay not my noble knights and I will go with thee” [219]). Critic Kenneth Hodges points out how key Guinevere’s “political role” is in Malory’s text and how her role as lover of Lancelot is overemphasized by readers (Hodges 55).

On the other hand, I also aim to examine how despite the independence and agency
Malory assigns to Guinevere’s character, she is also employed by him as a device that allows
Lancelot to shine. Malory invests much in Lancelot’s character, in showing him to be the most
noble and worthy knight in the world; his devotion to Guinevere is a main method of
highlighting this. So, Malory adds to Guinevere’s character traits fickleness and pettiness, which (despite her steadfast love to him) cause her to alternately dismiss and summon him. I hope to examine the difference between these opposing aspects of Guinevere’s character (powerful on one hand, while subsidiary on the other) and determine how they relate to the position of queen as it was performed in the 15th-century.

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