Campbell 6

Rachel Campbell

English 105

Professor Gayford

29 February 2004

A New Reason For Chivalry:

A look at domestic violence in King Arthur’s family

When most people hear the term “Arthurian” many different words and names come to mind. Probably the most commonly thought of characters are Lancelot, Galahad, Guinevere, and, of course, King Arthur himself. Still, one must not forget the other Knights of the Round Table. Their devotion to King Arthur during a time of deception and bloody war is what made them famous, but also well known is the famed code of chivalry each knight swore to uphold and maintain. Keeping this in mind, I was shocked when I started to read the assigned books for this class. In all of the books I encountered stories of rape and violence against women.

This helped to open my eyes as I continued reading these books. I tried to read deeper into the stories of some of these women. Among them, I was most moved by the tale of Igraine, King Arthur’s mother. If Arthur was aware of the way he was conceived, and how his father, Uther Pendragon, treated his beloved mother, then it comes as no small surprise that his enforced code of honor included the care, protection and reverence of women. All of this said, it is Igraine’s story that I wish to further explore.

As I have mentioned before, I see a multi- dimensional character in Igraine; a woman who is a victim of harsh circumstances, but, most importantly, a survivor and, in her own way, a fighter. Here is a woman who risked the safety and security of herself and

the family she loved more than anything to uphold the values that she believed to be right and good. Though every author chooses to describe her story differently, all of the descriptions are equally important in that together they help me to form a more complete picture of a human being who was, not only caught up in the complexities of lust and war, but also feared for her life on a regular basis because she was female.

In Mary Hoffmann’s Women of Camelot, Igraine’s story is told in her own voice. This is the only version I have read that goes into some details of the life of Igraine the girl. I put a lot of emphasis on this because I believe this to be very important. It was important to me to remember the stories of a young, tomboyish Igraine frolicking through the woods in search of mischief and adventure because I believe that it was that part of Igraine that allowed her to stay strong and courageous in the face of her terrifying enemy, and also her second husband. Uther Pendragon.

Hoffman also uses a lot of detail when she describes the relationship Igraine has with her first husband, Gorlois. “How happy we were! I would not have thought it possible to be any happier, but by the next spring we had our first little girl, Morgause, and we were even more in love”(11). I believe it is important to see that Igraine loved her husband with all her heart because that is the only way it is possible for me to understand why she would put his life at risk. She knew that they both could die at the hands of Uther Pendragon, but she still would not betray her beloved husband by giving herself to another man. This is her ultimate display of love for Gorlois.

The contrasts between the Igraine that Hoffman describes and the Igraine of John Steinbeck’s book The Acts of King Arthur are subtle, but in some way those subtleties were like red flags when I was reading. Because Steinbeck seems to be more concerned with the male characters in his story, Igraine is not really given a voice. Instead she is put into an Uther lump of sorts. By this I mean that her feelings on the topic of marriage to Uther are assumed to be the same as his own. “[L]ike the lusty knight he was, Uther allowed himself to be persuaded, and in all haste and joy and mirth they were married in the morning”(6). Hoffman’s Igraine did not experience any “joy” or “mirth”. Hoffman’s Igraine viewed marriage to the man who was responsible for her husband’s death very differently.

“I thought that if I married Uther, Gorlois would have not died in

vain. He and many brave men had given their lives because the king wanted

me for himself. Marriage to Uther, whom I didn’t love would be my

punishment for the deaths of those knights” (15).

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In Nancy Springer’s I am Morgan le Fay, Igraine’s marriage to Uther was done to protect her children and spare her own life. She surrendered her home and left her daughters in the care of a devoted nurse and trusted servants because if she resisted Uther, they would have all perished.

In Sarah Thompson’s The Dragon’s Son, Igraine’s depression and grief is overwhelming. There is no “joy” or “mirth” in this version of Uther and Igraine’s marriage. He rapes her and kidnaps her, taking her to a place where the only one who cares about her is Nimue, the wife of Uther’s bard and advisor, Merlin. “I led Igrayne to

my chamber….I thought she didn’t know me, or even where she was. But then she spoke. ‘ He killed him Nimue….He killed him unarmed in our marriage bed. And he had me in his blood’”(24). Here is a tale of unbelievable violence and unforgivable deeds. Igraine watches her husband die then is raped and beaten. And if that wasn’t enough, she is forced to marry the man who destroyed her family and her life.

This time the contrasts between Uther and Igraine compared to Steinbeck’s characters are enormous. Uther the rapist in Thompson’s book is now Uther the love sick, tortured soul.

“Uther fell sick from anger and frustration and from

longing for the fair Igraine. Then the noble knight

Sir Ulfius went to Uther’s tent and asked the nature of

his illness. ‘I will tell you’, said the king. ‘ I am sick

from anger and love and there are no medicines for

those’”(Steinbeck 4).

Another huge difference is that in Steinbeck’s book, Gorloise is not killed by Uther, but by a nameless, Faceless knight. This is key to making Uther a bit more likeable, which is what I believe Steinbeck is trying to do.

What I find so fascinating about all of these discrepancies amongst characters is that is what makes them all seem so real. Look at how quickly love could be turned into violence and hate. This then brings up the question of what love really is. I am not even going to attempt to answer that. Mankind has been trying to for centuries and so for, there are no black and white answers. I am just attempting to approach this literature by using some suggestions found in Jonathon Culler’s book, Literary Theory. “As a critique of common sense and exploration of alternative conceptions, theory involves a questioning

of the most basic premises or assumptions of literary study, the most unsettling of anything that might have been taken for granted: What is an author? What is it to read?” (Culler 4). The re-defining of words such as “love” is part of what can make one book based on Arthurian legends so different from the others. The complexities of human beings and how each individual views and perceives a situation is another way that these characters differ from book to book. Then again, these different sides of the characters could be just the reflections of the authors coming out on paper. Perhaps Steinbeck felt it necessary to depict Uther as being love sick because he knew what it felt like to long after someone who did not return his affection. Or perhaps he was just staying true to Thomas Malory’s version of Arthur, which is what Steinbeck’s book is based on. Then again, perhaps the viewpoints differ by the gender of the author. The female authors all emphasize the role of sacrifice and suffering that Igraine takes on. They also tend to make Uther out to be a bloodthirsty, lust-filled, ruthless man who will kill or destroy anything that gets in the way of his perceived “happiness”. In fact, in the women’s books, happiness never even seems to even be Uther’s motivation. Instead it seems that Igraine is a trophy that he must have, not very far removed from a horse or an enemies castle.

I do have to take into consideration, however, that labeling Males and females may be getting me no closer to an answer. When looking at artwork for this class, I was struck by the compassionate way Dan Butler chose to draw Igraine. His drawing depicted a woman who, while maintaining a regal stance that is befitting to royalty, was at the

same time both vulnerable and strong. The way Igraine’s arms were crossed against her chest showed not only the sorrow she felt, but also her fear. This is not the Igraine of Steinbeck; still she was drawn by a man. So to say that males will always depict characters in the same fashion is biased and untrue.