Shawna Edwards
April 3rd, 2004
Paper 3
This paper has taken me a long time to think about and try to write. I think it took about two hours for me just to read the guidelines and try to understand them, then went to my aunt who works at Skidmore for more help and this is the best I’ve come up with.
I think Culler summed up a lot when he wrote “sexist foundations.” (p128 Literary Theory) Two words, is all he had to say to make a statement. From the beginning we know that many cultures had male dominance. In our books we can see that there are strong female characters such as Nyneve, Gwenivere and Morgan le Fay. However, it does seem that the more power the woman has, the less the male characters are sexist, making the less fortunate poor and working class women vulnerable. Steinbeck writes on how King Arthur counseled with his wife Gwenivere but this doesn’t seem possible considering the time period and that it is only a story after all.
In I Am Mordred by Nancy Springer there is a large connection throughout the book about Mordred and Nyneve; they are friends that are connected spiritually. Most characters do respect Nyneve but there are some who don’t, mostly based on the fact that she destroyed Merlin, the most powerful male sorcerer. I think some find it hard to believe that Nyneve the woman could do that on her own. This book, being written by a woman I think gave the book the feminist point of view of the Arthurian legends. Culler writes, “feminism has effected a substantial transformation of literary education in the United States and Britain, throughout its expansion of the literary canon and the introduction of a range of new issues,” (p128, Literary Theory) and this matches Springer’s approach to the story of Mordred.
In The Dragon’s Son by Sarah Thomson, she approaches the Arthurian legends in a different perspective. While most stories in this book are about female characters, it is not from a feminist point of view. While Thomson does make some female characters strong there are others who are not. One example of this is Gwenhwyfach in the story about Medraud. Gwenhwyfach is the queen’s sister and head servant who she abuses and orders around like a slave. Thomson only gives a little of her background but does let the audience know that Gwen isn’t a virgin and has been used by men before. This continues when she meets Medraud in Arthur’s court and he then uses her for information and pleasure. When she gets pregnant Medraud refuses to accept the fact that it is his and uses her history to blame for him not liking her anymore. Whether or not Thomson is involved with feminist writing is something I’m not sure of but after reading this book I would say she isn’t.
When I think about the Arthurian art I have seen, Dan Butler’s piece on Merlin and Christina Balit’s piece of Nimue stand out in my mind the most on the issue of gender. The beautiful colors and Merlin’s age and wisdom shine with strong manhood in Butler’s picture. Balit’s picture is somewhat questionable. (p28, Women of Camelot) Nimue, the Lady of the Lake looks nice with long blonde hair but her face seems manly and unreal, making her appear to be a guy in a dress and wig. This is not the impression I want to have of her, especially this picture being in a children’s book.
From lecture 2 I want to answer “What is a Leader?” So far in our readings, it isn’t Arthur. Arthur had all these people who either loved him but I think he was a puppet for everyone else or maybe a scapegoat. Arthur might have been able to keep his people interested in him being king but it was nothing more than lies or magic. People loved him because of what Merlin could do for him, to make him appear powerful but really, he does nothing. Everyone else does things for him. His knights go on quests for what reason? To make the king happy who in all honestly seemed like a stoner who didn’t know what was going on? I really don’t know what to think of Arthur being king; he wasn’t overthrown because he had all these people who loved him but why? I don’t understand this at all. I can see a real leader in Springer’s Mordred before he lost hope and gave up his soul, he was smart and tried to make things right but at the same time was looked down upon because of his name and where he came from. If Merlin hadn’t been there things could have possibly worked out for the poor boy. These are my thoughts on what a leader is so far in our books.
In conclusion, feminism is something we can see in some books and some we can’t. However, there is some, whether it is by the author or if it is the characters in the stories. As I wind down on these books some more perhaps there will be more feminist issues.
Bibliography
Culler, Jonathan. Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction. New York:
Oxford UP, 1997.
Hoffman, Mary. Women of Camelot. Great Britain: Frances Lincoln
Limited, 2000.
Springer, Nancy. I Am Mordred. New York: Firebird, 1998.
Steinbeck, John. The Acts of King Arthur and his Noble Knights. Canada:
Harper Collins Canada LTD, 1976.
Thomson, Sarah. The Dragon’s Son. New York: Orchard Books, 2001.