Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Arts and Humanities Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2003

English

English & Modern Languages: Theses, Dissertations & Student Publications

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

To Glory Or To Ruin : Guinevere And Vivien In Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur, Alfred Tennyson's Idylls Of The King, And Edwin Arlington Robinson's Merlin And Lancelot, Eunice W. Carwile Nov 2003

To Glory Or To Ruin : Guinevere And Vivien In Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur, Alfred Tennyson's Idylls Of The King, And Edwin Arlington Robinson's Merlin And Lancelot, Eunice W. Carwile

English & Modern Languages: Theses, Dissertations & Student Publications

From Malory's Morte Darthur, through Tennyson's Idylls of the King, and through Robinson's Merlin and Lancelot, Guinevere and Vivien evolve from mere servants of a masculine plot and theme to well-rounded characters who struggle with the same problems that confront their male counterparts. Malory's world is about knights, warfare, and a holy quest, with women acting or reacting in certain ways only to move the plot along. While Tennyson develops female characters more fully than Malory, the great Victorian pays no homage to Arthurian womankind, bringing to his work a philosophy of sin-weakness-destruction that makes Vivien an evil seductress and …