ENL 3201 Spring 2024 Johnson

The legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is one of the most enduring (and endearing) complexes of narrative material in western culture, and it has had a powerful hold on the popular imagination for centuries. In this class, we will focus on the most voluminous and—in the eyes of some—the greatest manifestation of the legend in the English language: Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte Darthur. Sir Thomas Malory—accused thief, rapist, would-be murderer, and oft-imprisoned felon—wrote his Morte Darthur in prison during the turbulent times of the War of Roses, and thus the Morte provides contemporary political commentary through its Arthurian subject. This first major work of secular prose fiction in English is Malory’s attempt to combine the separate legend cycles of King Arthur, Lancelot, and Tristan, underscoring their warrior prowess and ill-fated love stories. In this class we will read the entire Morte with special attention to the literary sources Malory used to create his English Arthuriad, such as the French Vulgate Cycle, the Prose Tristan, and the Middle English Stanzaic Morte. We will also pay some attention to the Morte’s contemporary reception in the form of literary and film adaptation. Once we have finished Malory’s text, we will consider the issue of race in Arthurian romance through a reading of the anonymously authored Middle Dutch romance Moriaen (in translation). No previous knowledge of medieval literature or language is required.