Introduction: King Arthur, Robin Hood, and British National Identity

Abstract

This chapter presents the scope and outline of the topics covered in the book's study. The study examines how the legends of King Arthur and Robin Hood played a role in both displaying and shaping British national identity in the nineteenth century. It focuses upon the way in which King Arthur and Robin Hood contributed to, but also challenged, the attempt to build a consensual, celebratory national history based on the notion of Britain's uniquely felicitous political evolution and a related sense of a distinctive national character. It looks upon the complex nature of British national identity and how in many ways it was shaped as much by conflict as it was by consensus.