Women of Words in Le Morte Darthur: The Autonomy of Speech in Malory's Female Characters

ISBN-13: 9783319342030 / Angielski / Twarda / 2016 / 203 str.

Siobhan M. Wyatt

Opis

Offering a new reading of Malory s famed text, Le Morte Darthur, this book provides the first full-length survey of the alterations Malory made to female characters in his source texts. Through detailed comparisons with both Old French and Middle English material, Siobhan M. Wyatt discusses how Malory radically altered his French and English source texts to create a gendered pattern in the reliability of speech, depicting female discourse as valuable and truthful. Malory s authorial crafting indicates his preference for a certain type of female character: self-governing, opinionated, and strong. Simultaneously, the portrayal of this very readable type yields characterization. While late medieval court records indicate an increasingly negative attitude towards female speech and a tendency to punish vociferous women as scolds, Malory makes the words of chiding damsels constructive. While his contemporary writers suppress the powers of magical women, Malory empowers his enchantress characters; while the authors of his French source texts accentuate Guinevere s flaws, Malory portrays her with sympathy.
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Recenzje

"Wyatt's work makes for an interesting and thought-provoking read, and will be informative for scholars of women and gender in Malory, as well as those with an interest in his use of Arthurian source material. It suggests other potentially fruitful areas of study for future scholars to explore and develop, including the effect of medium (letters, spoken word) on the female voice and construction of character in Arthurian literature." (Rebecca E. Lyons, Modern Language Review, Vol. 114 (3), July, 2019)

Spis treści

Contents

 

Acknowledgements

 

Abbreviations

 

Introduction

 

1. The Ill-speaking Woman and the Marriageable Lady

1. I – Lyonet and Lyonesse

1. II – Maledysaunte

1. III – Alys and Morgan’s Cousin

1. IV – The Damsels of Arroy, and Nynyve and Ettarde

 

2. Magical and Miraculous Women

2. I – Morgan le Fay

2. II – Nynyve

2. III – Percival’s Sister

2. IV – A Note on the Grail Demons

 

3. ‘Whyle She Might Be Suffirde’: Ladies In (Unrequited) Love

3. I – Lust and Treason: Women as Seductresses and Decoys in ‘The Tale of Sir Launcelot du Lake’

3. II – Malory’s Elaynes

Elayne of Corbyn

Elayne of Ascolat

 

4. True Lovers and Adulterous Queens

4. I – Generous Love in Malory’s Episode of the Knight of the Cart

4. II – Displacement Anxiety: Lancelot and Guinevere in  the final stages of Le Morte Darthur

4. III – Isode

 

Conclusion <

 

Bibliography

 

O autorze

Siobhán M. Wyatt received her PhD in Medieval Literature from the University of Cambridge, UK. She recently published an article in Arthuriana.

Blurb

Offering a new reading of Malory’s famed text, Le Morte Darthur, this book provides the first full-length survey of the alterations Malory made to female characters in his source texts. Through detailed comparisons with both Old French and Middle English material, Siobhán M. Wyatt discusses how Malory radically altered his French and English source texts to create a gendered pattern in the reliability of speech, depicting female discourse as valuable and truthful. Malory’s authorial crafting indicates his preference for a certain “type” of female character: self-governing, opinionated, and strong.  Simultaneously, the portrayal of this very readable “type” yields characterization. While late medieval court records indicate an increasingly negative attitude towards female speech and a tendency to punish vociferous women as “scolds,” Malory makes the words of chiding damsels constructive. While his contemporary writers suppress the powers of magical women, Malory empowers his enchantress characters; while the authors of his French source texts accentuate Guinevere’s flaws, Malory portrays her with sympathy.