Stanzaic Morte Research Articles

Reviews

Journal Article Reviews Get access KING ARTHUR'S DEATH, THE MIDDLE ENGLISH STANZAIC MORTE ARTHUR AND ALLITERATIVE MORTE ARTHURE , edited by Larry D. Benson . Indianapolis & New York : Bobbs-Merrill , 1974 ; pp. xi, 257 ; £4.65 hardback, £3.25 paperback. JANE ROBERTS JANE ROBERTS Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Notes and Queries, Volume 22, Issue 11, November 1975, Pages 511–512, https://doi.org/10.1093/nq/22-11-511 Published: 01 November 1975

The Theme and Structure of the Stanzaic Morte Arthur

Though not a wholly successful work, the Stanzaic Morte Arthur is more coherent, more serious in intent, than is usually acknowledged. Dramatically and thematically organized in terms of the opposition between Launcelot and Gawayne, the work is best described as “tragedy of consequence.” Launcelot's adultery with Gaynour is ostensibly the root cause of the destruction of Arthur's realm, but the poet transfers the principal blame to others, above all to Gawayne. He achieves this by (a) distinguishing the adultery itself from its revelation to Arthur; (b) depicting the illicit love as favorably as possible; and (c) creating an implicit duality in the characters of Launcelot and Gawayne. The two undergo a reversal of primary roles by which Gawayne becomes the aggressor and Launcelot the placator. As the hero, Launcelot comes to embody the wiser course of action— withdrawal from worldly conflict—which leads him, eventually, to the priesthood. Confusion, however, results from the viewpoint of the narrator, who seems so indiscriminately generous with his praise that he contradicts the obvious implications of the course of events. This difficulty is resolved when one understands that the narrator's compassion transcends, not contradicts, the rigorous justice of events.

Malory's "French Book" Again

AMONG references which Malory makes to his source material, best known are his repeated appeals to authority of the book, which have frequently been interpreted as a claim that he was translating a single work. interpretation has even been adopted by some scholars who discredit claim-for example, Alice Greenwood in Cambridge History of English Literature: This material Malory several times says he found in a bookthe book-but critics have discovered a variety of sources.' The hypothesis that he did have one composite immediate source was presented twenty years ago, in different forms, by Brugger and Vinaver.2 It has recently been maintained by Sir Edmund Chambers, who not only refers to Vinaver's findings, but argues that existence of a single French book is attested by Malory's explicits to tales composing his work, as revealed fully by Winchester MS. Chambers also sees evidence of genuineness of French book references in fact that Malory refers to an English source, alliterative Morte Arthure, as the romance. From this it is inferred that, since he names only French book during portion of his account which parallels stanzaic Morte Arthur, he was not using that English poem.3 Though Vinaver himself, in his edition of Malory based on Winchester MS, has now joined those who believe in more than one