| dc.description.abstract | Sir Thomas Malory’s fifteenth-century prose romance, Le Morte Darthur,
depicts public and private identity as distinct and often incompatible halves
of the Arthurian courtly community. In addition, masculine and feminine
identity are represented as having different roles and functions within the text.
Arthurian scholarship has predominantly focused on Malory’s portrayals of
masculine and communal identity, as exemplified by central figures such as
Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. However, in the past two decades
an increasingly concentrated interest in the Morte’s female protagonists has
emerged. As a contribution to this burgeoning site of critical inquiry I offer a
tripartite case study of three marginal queens in this text: Igraine, Morgause
and Morgan. Despite being the mother and sisters of King Arthur, these
women have attracted comparatively little attention, either as individuals or
as a family. This thesis argues that Malory presents noteworthy portraits of
marginality in Igraine, Morgause and Morgan, which reveal the significance
of space to the formation of identity in the Morte. Each of these protagonists is
imagined in a variety of spaces in the Arthurian world: narrative, social,
geographical, physical and emotional. Such spaces are contained within two
principal romance locations, the court and quest wilderness, in which
protagonists’ expressions and activities differ. Courts are typically governed
by patriarchal authorities such as kings, knights, magicians and clerics, who
privilege masculine public identity and political issues affecting the Arthurian
community. By contrast, the quest wilderness encompasses places governed
by what are termed ‘matriarchal’ authorities including queens, ladies,
supernatural women and nuns, where private identity and individual
emotions are more readily expressed. Marginal women speak and act in both
the court and quest wilderness, but their identities are articulated differently
in each. This thesis argues that Malory’s text presents moments when Igraine,
Morgause and Morgan are marginalised by the Arthurian community
critically, whilst the development of their individual identities in the quest
wilderness is depicted sympathetically. As such, an examination of these
protagonists’ movements across a variety of spatial boundaries in the world
of the story as well as the narrative’s composite structure offers a revised
reading of identity, gender and marginality in Malory studies. This thesis
challenges two dominant assumptions about female voice and agency in the
field. Firstly, that marginality is primarily a position of disempowerment,
particularly for medieval women. Secondly, that marginal individuals are
inherently subversive and threaten the Arthurian community. | en |
