“Trouble in Paradise: Flaws in Arthur’s Kingdom”
This paper will compare and contrast the flawed heroes in Malory’s Le Morte Darthur against each other as well as against their portrayals in Chretien’s romances. I will discuss how these flaws contributed to the dissolution of the Round Table and the fall of King Arthur, but more importantly, I will consider why these characters are presented as they are so that I can compare the two writer’s intentions and how they were influenced by the cultural norms of their times. I will be looking primarily at Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Gawain, Galahad, and to a lesser degree, Yvain.
Almost all of these characters are flawed, yet the writers clearly felt they were worthy of remembrance and praise. Some of the characters have larger flaws than others, and yet those characters with the worst sins (such as Lancelot) are exalted over others with smaller flaws. Why does Lancelot deserve to heal Sir Urry, for example? Some characters aren’t presented as flawed at all by the author, and yet I could argue that they are not so perfect. Why, of all knights, does Galahad deserve the Grail? Why is Arthur not held to the same standard of heroism and self-sacrifice that he expects of his knights? And what are the two authors trying to say to the world by writing about these characters in the manner that they did?
I do not have a fully developed thesis yet. I intend to narrow my topic down as I continue developing the paper as there’s probably no way I can cover all of this in depth, but keeping it broad for now allows me more freedom and flexibility as I look for secondary sources. I’m not sure which sources I will work the most closely with, as our professor recommended I find different ones. I have been having trouble with that. Many of the articles on JSTOR and ESCBO are either old or not relevant to what I’m trying to do. I will keep looking over the weekend, but I was hoping you could recommend some sources. Maybe there is a database that better suits my purposes?