The Depiction of Morgan Le Fay in
Various Accounts of The Arthurian
Legend
Morgaine speaks....
"In my time I have been called many things: sister, lover, priestess, wise-woman,
queen." So begins Marion Zimmer Bradley's account of the Arthurian legend, which
places unusual emphasis on the character of Morgaine, otherwise known as Morgan Le
Fay. But who exactly is Morgan and how does she vary in the different accounts of the
Arthurian legend?
In order to assess how Morgan Le Fay is depicted throughout history, it is first
important to establish who she is and what part she plays in the legend. Five different
texts: Geoffrey of Monmouth's The History of the Kings Of Britain, Sir Thomas Malory's
Le Morte d'Arthur, a French version of the Arthurian legend, Mort Artu, written by an
unknown 13th century author and T. H. White's 20th century classic The Once and
Future King, along with Marion Zimmer Bradley's New York Times best-selling novel
The Mists Of Avalon show vastly different versions of the character of Morgan and her
importance in the legend.
In most versions of the legend, Morgan is Arthur's half sister, the daughter of
Queen Igraine and her first husband, the Duke of Cornwall. After her mother's marriage
to the High King, Morgan is trained in magic of some sort. She, whether knowingly or
unknowingly, beds Arthur and is impregnated by him. She bares him a son, Mordred, then
disappears into the "realm of the fairies" After several years, Morgan is married to the
King of Uriens. This is the way Morgan appears most frequently in re-tellings of the
Arthurian legend. However, the character Morgause has often taken on some of the
characteristics and ro...
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...nt and incapable of doing wrong. There has
been no balanced view, either women are very good or very bad.
Morgan Le Fay is an interesting character who changes a good deal throughout the
various accounts of the Arthurian legend. The societies in which all these accounts of
Arthur were written have contributed to the author's decision to portray her in a certain
way. While in The Once and Future King we find her to be an allegory to Hitler, in The
Mists of Avalon she is the epitome of feminist ideals, and while she is portrayed in a very
positive light in Mort Artu, it seems she could not possibly do any more evil in Le Morte
d'Arthur. Morgan Le Fay is a very complex character whose essential identity has been
changed dramatically throughout the ages and who has frequently fallen victim to the
stereotypes that have accompanied women throughout the ages.
A heroine's journey usually involves a female protagonist, however, the relationship with this story structure goes much deeper in this book.
We first meet her as the ugly old lady that was along side Lady Bertilak in the castle, she is covered head to toe but is described as “repulsive to see and shockingly bleared (Winny 2011: 55).” In the end we find out she is really Morgan le Fay. Though she is not mentioned very much in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, but she plays a very significant role. Morgan le Fay is really King Arthur’s half sister and sent the Green Knight, who we also find out is the same person as the Lord Bertilak, to King Arthur’s in the very beginning of the poem. She does so to test King Arthur’s knights as well as to scare Queen Guenevere to death (Winny 2011: 137). “Through the power of Morgan le Fay” she controls Lady Bertilak as well as Lord Bertilak to do the work and test King Arthur’s knight, Sir Gawain (Winny 2011: 137). The whole time Morgan le Fay had power over most of the characters. She was the one that set up the idea that Sir Gawain would have to meet the Lord Bertilak/Green Knight at his chapel and set up the agreement that Sir Gawain and Lord Bertilak/Green Knight to exchange gifts daily. Though Lady Bertilak did go about testing Sir Gawain with her own power, it was Morgan le Fay who made it happen. This whole poem would not have happened if Morgan le Fay did not set up the whole thing. Morgan le Fay had power over everyone and everything throughout the entire
The world of Arthurian literature is filled with magic and adventure that enchants readers of all ages. T.H. White has done a fantastic job of turning the childhood adventures of Arthur by turning his narrative into spellbinding, cartoon like interpretation of the sword in the stone legend. Moral values are apparent from the beginning of White’s novel. White has cleverly connected all the educational adventures of Arthur, along with the people and animals encountered to the pulling the sword out of the stone. This marvelous amalgamation of key elements not only ties the loose ends of Arthur’s adventures together, they also solidify the reasoning behind Arthurs’ predetermined path to becoming the king of England.
women and the people who have been misjudged and looked down upon.Minerva died a heroine
Like in Gilgamesh and the Iliad, women help encourage and influence the protagonists to be the heroes and protectors they are meant to be. Adventures and wars
‘On her way Queen Morgana Le Fay came to the abbey where Arthur lay recovering from his wounds;and suddenly she thought that now at least she could steal his sword Excalibur.’ ‘The King lies sleeping on his bed,’ she was told, ‘and gave command that no one was to wake him.’(p.75) Morgana Le Fay displays evilness by taking Arthur's sword. When arthur awoke from his nap he was very angry and asked people around him who took it and people told him it was Queen Morgana Le Fay. He got on his horse with Sir Outlake and found them and she threw the scabbard into the middle of the lake. Morgana Le Fey turned herself into stone and that shows that she is
...mocks Arthur's court and his so-called honor, and is in concordance with Morgan le Fay's plan to make a fool out of Arthur and his knights.
The characterization of women in SGGK actively marginalizes their importance in the poem. Although, in the case of Morgan le Fay, this marginalization is partially due to differences
...ualities and influences we want to accept as truth instead of blindly accepting the book of myths. She encourages women to descend the ladder and find the “thing itself” and the meaning that thing has for each individual woman.
Morgan and Duncan get wind of this however, and realize that appealing to the Curia is no longer an option. They then set out to meet with Kelson. Loris follows up the excommunication of Duncan and Morgan by attempting to have Corwyn placed under interdict, but a group of bishops refuse to take part in the action of putting an entire city under interdict merely because of the actions of one man. Loris is infuriated by this, but he and his supporters are thrown out of Dhassa, effectively dividing the Curia. Kelson travels to the city of Culdi to attend the wedding of Morgan’s sister, Bronwyn; and Duncan’s half-brother, Kevin. Unknown to everyone, a spiteful and jealous architect named Rimmell has fallen for the bride to be and is willing to win her affection by any means necessary. This drives Rimmell to visit an old women who apparently possesses magical powers that can make Bronwyn fall in love with him. However, Rimmell’s plan unexpectedly backfires horribly and the charm ends up killing Kevin and Bronwyn! By the time Morgan and Duncan arrive in Culdi, Rimmell has been executed by Duke Jared for his crimes and although Morgan is crushed by the death of his beloved sister, he knows that Kelson still urgently needs him for guidance and assistance. Facing the challenges that the Church, Torenth and Wencit de Gray were creating; Kelson cannot allow Morgan to wallow in grief and shut himself away,
In the 20th century there were many issues including fascism, the second world war, and second wave feminism. These issues were reflected in the works of T.H White and Marion Zimmer Bradley; they adapted the Arthurian legend to address the issues that were facing at the time as well as some of their own personal issues. T.H White used the Arthurian legend and it’s characters to comment on and look at fascism and World War II. During the 20th century Marion Zimmer Bradley used the Arthurian Legend to look at feminism as well as showing some conflict of religion that she might have been facing.
she can be seen as a representative of the victims of war, a complex human face on the backdrop
Sir Gawain and The Green Knight is an example of medieval misogyny. Throughout Medieval literature, specifically Arthurian legends like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the female characters, Guinevere, the Lady, and Morgan leFay are not portrayed as individuals but social constructs of what a woman should be. Guinevere plays a passive woman, a mere token of Arthur. The Lady is also a tool, but has an added role of temptress and adulteress. Morgan leFay is the ultimate conniving, manipulating, woman. While the three women in this legend have a much more active role than in earlier texts, this role is not a positive one; they are not individuals but are symbols of how men of this time perceive women as passive tokens, adulteresses, and manipulators.
The first of act of real betrayal is seen towards the beginning of the novel committed by Sir Accalon of Gaul and Morgan Le Fey. King Arthur under the impression that he and Accalon were friends, had no idea that Accalon was planning on killing him. But the even worse was the fact his sister spearheaded the whole thing. At this point Arthur is being betrayed by his Knight and his sister. Morgan was the one who seduced Accalon into the idea of becoming the strongest knight and giving him this false confidence. His false perception of strength came from the fact that Morgan gave him sword of Excalibur. Arthur finds out and says, “But I fele by thy wordis that thou haste agreed to the deth of my persone: and therefore thou art a traytoure – but I wyte the lesse, for my sistir Morgan le Fay by hir false crauftis made the to agré to hir fals lustis. (Malory 90) In theses lines Arthur is forgiving
The main purpose of this essay has been to discuss the facts that prove there was a "real" Arthur, as well as to discuss the legendary Arthur, to try to find an explanation why his deeds were portrayed in a way that made them larger than life. The