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A Skeptical Feminist Exploration Of Binary Dystopias In Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists Of Avalon, Alexandra Elizabeth Anita Lindstrom

Theses Digitization Project

In Marion Zimmer Bradley's retelling of the Arthurian legends, The Mists of Avalon, she creates two dystopic cultures: Avalon and Camelot. Contrasting Bradley's account of the legends with the traditional version, Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, reveals that Bradley's sweeping revisions of the tradition do little to create a feminist ideal. A skeptical questioning of the text's plot and characters with the Women's Movement in mind opens an interpretation of the text as a critique of feminism itself.