Tennyson and Arthurian Legend

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Tennyson and Arthurian Legend

• Idylls of the King
• The Passing of Arthur

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Arthurian Legend

• Body of myths about legendary King
  Arthursupposedly ruled England in 5th century AD
• Camelot, capitol of Arthurs nationsymbolized
  ideal of national harmony
• Knights of the Round Table, Arthurs order of
  knighthoodknights were dedicated to fighting for
  moral purposes

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Arthurian Legend

• Lancelot, Arthurs greatest knight and best
  friendhad love affair with Arthurs wife
  Guinivere
• Loss of Round Tables moral valuesled to civil
  war and destruction of Camelot

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Victorian Revival of Arthurian Legend

• What did the legend of Arthur mean to Victorians?

Background Joseph Noel Paton. I Wonder Who
lived in There?
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• Heroic inspiration for progress
• Nostalgic connection to past greatness
• Warning about loss of traditional values
• Sense of order and national identity in a time of
  threatening change

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Idylls of the King

• Idyllnarrative poem treating a romantic theme
• Tennyson wrote 12 separate Idylls based on
  Arthurian legend
• Published as a collection in 1888
• Intended as a modern epic
• Expresses need for moral order to survive in the
  face of change

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The Passing of Arthur

• The Final Idyll
• p. 1293

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Introduction

• Recounts final battle of civil war that destroyed
  Arthurs kingdom
• Narrated by Sir Bedivere, Arthurs First and Last
  Knight
• Modred, Arthurs corrupt nephew, revealed
  Lancelot and Guineveres affair, usurped Arthurs
  throne, and instigated civil war

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The Battle

• Arthur laments that his kingdom has returned to
  chaos but continues to fight evil despite defeat
  (Christ figure)
• Sir Gawaines ghost warns Arthur of his passing
  (loss of spiritual values)
• Arthur kills Modred but receives a mortal wound

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Arthurs Passing
The Once and Future King

• Sir Bedivere tries 3 times to return Excalibur to
  Lady of the Lake
• Arthur passes away to Avilion, promising to
  return again
• Claims that the loss of his order will lead to a
  new and better order

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Tennysons Message

• In times of change and loss, keep the faith in
  moral order
• While cultures and traditions change, a greater,
  divine order remains
• Remaining true to the greater order can cause
  growth and progress to come from destructive
  change

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Monty Python and the Holy Grail1974

• Reflects a 20th-century, postmodern attitude to
  notion of an orderly universe
• Satirizes forms of orderpolitical, religious,
  military, etc.
• Influence of Theater of the Absurd
• Life is absurd, without fixed meaning/absolute
  truth
• Responds to lifes absurdity with bizarre satiric
  humor