The character of King Arthur has a large role in medieval studies. This character has been portrayed many times in literature. In Malory’s “Le Morte d’Arthur” and “Alliterative Morte Arthure” Arthur is portrayed in two different visions. This essay addresses the comparison of Arthur in these two literary works.
It is shown in the essay that Arthur differs in terms of overall appearance in both the novel and the context of his personality. The similarities are in the other characters portrayed and the predicted outcome which is the death of Arthur. In general, the essay shows that these works cover different aspects of Arthur‘s history.
Arthur in Malory’s “Le Morte d’Arthur”
The King Arthur in “Le Morte d’Arthur” or “The death of Arthur” is the main character around which the plot is based. Although it can be said that through most of the tale his character is absent, and the story revolves around the intrigues around sir Lancelot, the presence of the king is evident in most of the other characters’ events and motifs. King Arthur is affected by Aggravain and Mordred’s advice but his power was still in effect in making his own decisions.
In terms of relations to another character, it can be noticed that the relation between Lancelot and the Queen is known to Arthur but his ignorance cannot be tolerated by Aggravain and Mordred who convince him to expose this relation.
His relation with Lancelot although being tense as to the feeling of betrayal by the King respects Lancelot as a great knight and warrior,
“He is a marvelous knight of prowess. Alas, me sore repenteth” said the king that ever Sir Lancelot should be against me.”(The Romance of Arthur p.538)
The theme is “Le Morte d’Arthur” as the title implies is the events and characters that lead to the death of the king, with the main themes being the contrast between betrayal and loyalty.
Furthermore, this theme is mostly centralized around the character of King Arthur as a hero in conventional terms of military glory, the focus frequently changes from him to Lancelot and the Queen and Lancelot and Gawain. In all these events which were not directly related to King Arthur, it could be sensed that he acts like a pivot for all the actions of the other characters.
The romance genre in which the character of King Arthur is portrayed has mixed the realism of the events while keeping the emotional and imaginative feel throughout the book. (p.530)
That writing technique helped to keep the events of the story paced as a tale while the character of the king remained believable and realistic. The actions of Arthur are measured, which gives the sense that we read about a historical biography of a real person. The use of magic in this tale was kind of limited as the only occurrence was when throwing the Excalibur
“And then vanished away from the hand with the sword in the water” (568)
In addition, the death of the King was portrayed giving assumption for the reader that he might have stayed alive.
Arthur in “Alliterative Morte Arthure”
The king Arthur portrayed in “The Alliterative Morte Arthure” is the courageous and glorified king who is shown to be cruel and warlike. Arthur in this poem is a king that has enormous authority, and in contrast to the previous book, he is the center of the narration.
He is in a quest to conquer the Roman Empire. The personality of the king is somewhat changed throughout the poem as he is more reasonable and wise through the beginning in contrary to the later parts he is more cruel and brutal.
However, this might be explained as the atmosphere of war has put an influence on the character.
The narrative style of Arthur’s story mostly omits the relation between him and other characters, though some of the characters like Gawain re-occur frequently, most of the poem retells merely the king’s adventures in a glorified epic manner. Another character that should be mention is Mordred as he has the main role of the villain and the traitor, although he has a human side showed in the Gawain death part when he stated him
“He was unmatched on earth, sir, on my oath. He was Gawain the good, most gracious of men and the greatest of knights who lived under God …” and showing his emotions
“Then the traitor freely let fall his tears”. (519)
Also, it could be noted the respect showed by Arthur to Gawain after his death admitting that he was worthy to wear his crown, is a sign of admiration of respect from Arthur to his knight. (521)
The genre of the poem as a chronicle gave the character a more colorful description that helped to show how his personality evolved or adapted through the story revealing him from a political perspective as a ruler.
References
Wilhelm, James J., ed. The Romance of Arthur, New, Expanded Edition: An Anthology of Medieval Texts in Translation. Garland Medieval Texts. n.a: Routledge, 1994. 489-576.