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Note below new course Authurian Literature in the Middle Ages
3826.2: The Romance of Arthur:
Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages
ARTHUR: The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water signifying by Divine Providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. That is why I am your king!
DENNIS: Listen -- strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.
--Monty Python and the Holy Grail
This course will take up Dennis’s query regarding the legendary, and seemingly fantastical, kingship of Arthur by examining the tradition of Arthurian literature and its pervasiveness in the Middle Ages. We will cover themes such as chivalry, courtly love, and the politics of kingship, and we will examine the tensions between the competing demands of public and private relationships in the varied stories of Arthur and his knights. Although the course will concentrate on the medieval versions of the Arthurian tales, we will make some comparisons with 19th and 20th century revivals and developments of the Arthurian myth in literature and film in order to investigate its adaptability to the revisionist viewpoints of different periods.
Readings will be in Middle English and in modern English translation; guidance will be given in the reading of medieval English texts.
Winter 2012 Wednesday 4:00 – 6:30
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