ENGL 330 / ENGL 512: Medieval Literature Dr. Debora B. Schwartz English Department, California Polytechnic State University General Background: Malory's Morte Darthur [page numbers in NA refer to 8th ed., 2006] General: Review the hand-outs on Courtly Love and Translatio. For Malory, read NA 13-14 ("The Fifteenth Century") and NA 438-9 (headnote to Malory -- REQUIRED READING although our primary text will be in the Penguin Classics edition, not NA). Recall that Caxton's printing of Malory's Morte Darthur in 1485 is one of the two events which mark the end of the Middle English Period and of the Middle Ages (see NA 1; know political event as well!). Read Caxton's Preface (on e-reserve; be sure to print out .PDF file and bring it with you to class).  Notice the way in which Caxton defines Malory's work. Know what is meant by the Winchester Manuscript (and see chart of divisions of Malory's text in the manuscript, also in e-reserve .PDF file). Be aware of the broad amount of material covered in the full work -- far greater than the portions we will read in class.  Know lifespan of Malory (dates) as well as composition and publication dates of the Morte Darthur (see NA 456:  date of composition is on the left; dat of publication on the right).  Know the form in which Malory's work is written (alliterative verse? rhymed verse? prose?) and its primary sources.  Know the meaning of the term "interlace" and its relevance to the Morte Darthur. Malory's Morte Darthur: Background Malory's Morte Darthur is preserved in the printed edition published by Caxton in 1485 and in the Winchester Manuscript, discovered in 1934. Your edition follows the chapters in Caxton's printed version; the divisions in the Winchester MS (= manuscript) are indicated on the chart included in the  e-reserve file. The two extant versions of Malory's work are not identical, and scholars have argued about which is most "authentic," "correct," "reliable," etc. A modern editor must decide which to use as his base text, knowing that neither is likely to duplicate exactly the text as originally written by Malory. Malory's work is not a poem -- it is a lengthy prose narrative, based on even longer French prose works (the "Vulgate Cycle") which tell the "whole" story of the rise and fall of King Arthur's kingdom (see translatio). Due to its length, it is a much less unified work than SGGK; in a sense, it is closer to a modern series of loosely related historical novels than to a medieval verse romance. In the Morte, the focus has broadened to include not one but many of Arthur's knights, whose adventures have been intertwined in a complex pattern called "interlace." Our lengthy readings will cover only a small (!) part of the whole: roughly, the story of Lancelot and Guinevere's love and its consequences, Galahad and the Grail Quest, and the downfall of the kingdom.  Consult the table of contents in our edition and the chart in the  e-reserve file describing the divisions in the Winchester manuscript for a sense of the contents of the whole work. The French title of the work (which translates as "Death of Arthur") indicates its primary source: Malory was working from the French prose romances of the Vulgate cycle, the last of which is called La Mort le Roi Artu ("The Death of King Arthur"). As a result, Malory incorporates the biases found in that cycle, a Cistercian reworking of the original 12th-century verse romances (e.g. The Knight of the Cart; see translatio and the Alliterative Revival online readings).  Whereas in The Knight of the Cart, the love between Lancelot and Guinevere was blameless (and led Lancelot to become the savior of Arthur's kingdom), in the Vulgate Cylcle (and in Malory) it is problematic, both the source of Lancelot's chivalric prowess and the cause of the downfall of Arthur's kingdom.  Cistercian values are also apparent in the glorification of virginity in the Grail Quest, in which the virginal Galahad replaces the sinful Lancelot as the "best" knight in the world. It is interesting to note that the early 13th-century Vulgate Cycle, with its glorification of male virginity, is contemporaneous with Hali Meidhad, which idealizes virginity for a feminine audience. Contents of this and linked pages Copyright Debora B. Schwartz, 1999-2007 Click here for full Malory's Morte Darthur Study Questions Click here for ENGL 330 Reading Assignments in Malory's Morte Darthur Click here for ENGL 512 Reading Assignments in Malory's Morte Darthur Click here for Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Study Questions Return to ENGL 330 homepage Return to ENGL 512 homepage Return to Dr. Schwartz's Teaching Page Return to Dr. Schwartz's homepage Send me mail!