Fall, 2005
ENGLISH 317/WTSG
317/MDST 301: ARTHURIAN LITERATURE:
The “Reel” Arthur
DR. JANE CHANCE
2:30-3:45 TTH
Distribution I course
DESCRIPTION: A survey of the origins and development of the Arthurian legend from
the earliest chronicles in the sixth century and later medieval French, Welsh,
Irish, and English Arthurian poems to modern adaptations of Arthurian material,
ncluding films.
PURPOSE: This course will investigate the major
traditions associated with King Arthur and his
knights of the Round Table. We will witness the
growth of the Arthurian legend and investigate
some of the reasons for its continuing allure. The
course has the additional purpose of helping us
see the way legends are developed and understand the forces which seem to contribute to their
growth and popularity,
especially through the film discussions.
GRADES: Two examinations = 50%
One short paper and 1 group
power-point presentation/discussion = 50%
Attendance is mandatory and highly desirable; students are
expected and encouraged to come to class prepared to discuss the assigned
reading/viewing. Participation counts for borderline grades and by definition
for the film presentation
TEXTS (all in paper, on reserve): In order of assignment (prices by
amazon.com)
Excerpts from early (6th-9th
c.) Arthurian Chronicles and Histories (Hand-out)
“The Dream of Rhonabwy,”
from the Mabinogion (Hand-out)
Geoffrey of Monmouth, History of the Kings of Britain, trans. Lewis Thorpe (Penguin) 0140441700 $11.16 DA140 .G353 1966
Marie de France, Lanval, trans. Robert Hanning and Joan
Ferrante (Baker Books) (Hand-out)
PQ1494.L3 E5 1982
Chrétien de Troyes, Arthurian Romances, trans.
William Kibler (Penguin)
0140445218 $11.20PQ1447 .E5 K53 1991
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, trans. James Winney (Broadview) 0921149921 $9.95
PR2065.G3 1992
Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur, ed. Stephen H. A. Shepherd (Norton)
0-393-97464-2 $17.75
PR2041. M37 2004 See
Shepherd’s Website: http://faculty.smu.edu/sshepher/MorteDarthur.htm
FILMS (all on reserve, in order of discussion) Viewings other than at
the
The Sword in the Stone (1963), dir. Wolfgang
Reitherman 79 mins. Walt Disney
Productions
First Knight (1995), dir. Jerry Zucker
134 mins. Columbia TriStar 0800141601 PN1997 .F572 2000
Lancelot of the
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), dir. Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones 90 mins.
Columbia TriStar B00005O3vc PN1997 .M68 1991
Excalibur (1981), dir. John Boorman 141 mins. Warner Studios 6305558167 PN1997 .E92 1991
The Natural (1984), dir. Barry Levinson 138
mins.
PN1997 .K387 2001
Gawain and the Green Knight (1991), dir. John Phillips
Thames Television On order
The Fisher King (1991), dir. Terry
Gilliam 137 mins.
PN1997 .F573 1992
Mists of Avalon (2001), dir. Uli Edel PN 178 mins. Turner Home Video B00005Qw5Y
1997 .m632 2001
King Arthur (2004), dir. Antoine Fuqua
Buena Vista Home Video B0002YlcGO PN 1997.2 .K56 2004
SYLLABUS:
I. Introduction
First Week
Aug. 21 Sunday @ 3,
Aug. 23 Tues. Topic: Introduction—An
Historical or Legendary Arthur?
Read Excerpts from Early Chronicles and Histories
(Hand-out)
Gildas, De Excidio
et Conquesto Britanniae [On the Fall and Conquest of
Bede, Historia Ecclesiastics Gentis Anglorum [Ecclesiastical History of
the English People] (c.751), pp. 4-5
II. The Literary Backgrounds and
Traditions
Aug. 25 Thurs. Topic: The Legendary Arthur
Read Excerpts from Early
Chronicles and Histories (Hand-out):
Nennius, Historia
Brittonum [History of the Britons] (c. 800), pp. 5-6
Annales Cambriae
[The Annals of Wales] (c. 950), p.7
William of Malmesbury, Gesta Regum Anglorum [History of the
Kings of the English] (c. 1125), pp. 7-8
Giraldus Cambrensis, De Principis Instructionae [On the
Education of a Prince] (c. 1195), pp.
9-11
Second Week
Aug. 30 Tues. Topic: Arthur of Camelot: Fact or Fiction? The Archaeology
Videotape on King Arthur: In Class
Topic: Geoffrey of Monmouth and the
History of Arthur
Read Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historiae Regum Brittonum [History of
the Kings of Britain] (ca.
1129-1151), dedication & part I, Brutus, pp. 51-74; part IV, The Boy
Merlin, pp. 166-69; part V, Merlin; 170-85; part VI, Merlin, Vortigern, Uther Pendragon, pp.
186-211
Sept. 1 Thurs. Topic: Geoffrey of Monmouth and the
History of Arthur
Read Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historiae Regum Brittonum (ca.
1129-1151), part VII, Arthur of Britain, pp. 212-61
Third Week
Sept. 6 Tues. Topic: Welsh Romance and the
Read “Dream of Rhonabwy”
from the Mabinogian (hand-out)
Sept. 8 Thurs. Topic: Gendering the Round Table through
Alterity
Read Marie de France, Lanval
(hand-out)
Fourth Week
Sept. 13 Tues. Topic: Chrétien, Lancelot, or Knight of the Cart: Parody or Romance?
Read Chrétien, Lancelot, or Knight of the Cart, in
Kibler
Sept. 15 Thurs. (cont.)
Fifth Week
Sept. 20 Tues. Topic: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight:
Romance or Ritual?
Read Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight, Winney’s trans., Fitts 1-2
Sept. 22 Thurs. Topic:
Gay Gawain?
Read Fitts 3-4
MID-TERM ID'S AND ESSAY QUESTIONS DUE FOR STUDY GUIDE
Sixth Week
Film viewing: The Sword in the
Stone (1963) (based on T.H. White, The Once and Future King, book
1)
Sept. 27 Tues. Topic: Malory and the Maturation of the
Hero
Sept. 29 Thurs. (cont.)
Seventh Week
Film viewing: First Knight
(1995),
dir. Jerry Zucker
Oct. 4 Tues. Topic: Malory and the Threat to the Old King
Oct. 6 Thurs. Topic:
Malory and the Death of Arthur
Oct. 7 Fri. MID-TERM
EXAMINATION due 9 A.M. at 235 Herring Hall or by e-mail
III. Individual Works: The
Masterpiece and the Reinterpretation, into the Twentieth Century
Eighth Week
Oct. 9 Sun @ 3
Oct. 10 & 11 Mon. and
Tues. MID-TERM RECESS
Oct. 13 Thurs. Topic: The
Postmodern Lancelot
Film: Lancelot of the
Read: Excerpts from the
Prose Lancelot and “Lancelot at the Perilous Chapel,” Perlesaus, in Shepherd, ed. Le Morte d’Arthur, pp. 720-25
Oct. 14 Fri. Paper Due at
9 a.m.
Ninth Week
Oct. 18. Tues. Topic: Monty
Python and the Postmodern Arthur
Film: Monty Python and the Holy
Grail
(1975), dir. Terry Gilliam
Read: Malory, “The Tale of the Sankgreal,” Morte d’Arthur, pp. 496-587
Oct. 20 Thurs. Topic: Monty
Python and the Postmodern Grail
Film: Monty Python and the Holy
Grail
(1975), dir. Terry Gilliam
Tenth Week
Film viewing: Excalibur
Oct. 25 Tues. Topic: The
Postmodern Sword
Film: Excalibur (1981), dir. John Boorman
Read: Excerpts from The Prose Merlin and the Suite de
Merlin, in Shepherd, pp. 705-713
Oct. 27 Thurs. Topic: The Postmodern Sword
Film: Excalibur (1981), dir. John Boorman
Eleventh Week
Film viewing: The Natural
Nov. 1 Tues Topic: The Postmodern Perceval
Film: The Natural
(1984), dir. Barry Levinson
Read: Malory, “The Tale of
the Sankgreal,” Morte d’Arthur, pp.
496-587, esp. pp. 521-31, 544-87
Nov. 3 Thurs. Topic: The
Postmodern Perceval
Film: The Natural
(1984), dir. Barry Levinson
Twelfth Week
Nov. 6 Sunday Film viewing@ 3 Media Center: Gawain
and the Green Knight
Nov. 8 Tues. Topic: Postmodern Sir Gawain?
Film:
Gawain and the Green Knight (1991), dir. John Phillips
Nov. 10 Thurs. Topic: Postmodern Sir Gawain?
Film: Gawain and the Green Knight
(1991), dir. John Phillips
Study Guide ID’s Due
Thirteenth Week
Film viewing: The Fisher King
Nov. 15 Tues. Topic: Monty Python Redux, or The
Postmodern Grail
Film: The Fisher King (1991), dir. Terry Gilliam
Read: Excerpts from The
Queste del Saint Graal, in Shepherd, ed. Morte d’Arthur, pp. 733-39
Nov. 17 Thurs. Topic:
Monty Python Redux, or The Postmodern Grail
Film: The Fisher King (1991), dir. Terry Gilliam
Fourteenth Week
Film viewing: Mists of Avalon,
Part 1
Nov. 22 Tues. Topic: Postmodern
Morgan?
Film: Mists of Avalon
(2001), dir. Uli Edel
Read: “The Tale of Sir Launcelot du Lac,” in Malory, Morte d’Arthur, pp. 151-76
Nov. 24 Thurs. Thanksgiving Vacation
Fifteenth Week
Film viewing: Mists of Avalon
, Part 2
Nov. 29 Tues. Topic: Postmodern Morgan?
Film: Mists of Avalon (2001),
dir. Uli Edel
Dec. 1 Thurs.
Summary and Evaluations
Dec. 2 Fri. SECOND EXAM
DUE 9 a.m.
Dec. 21: Grades are due at the Registrar’s.
Requirements:
I. Short Paper (no less than 5-7 pp.) Due: Oct. 14 (Fri.). The paper must be typewritten, doublespaced, with adequate margins, and submitted on the date due. Assignments will be graded on both form and content: originality of
thesis, cogency of argument, clear, coherent organization, and sufficient development.
Two choices of topic:
1. Write a short research paper or critical analysis on some aspect of any of the medieval
works we are reading or on on one of the following selected topics (a research bibliography follows).
In the first instance, check your idea with me. In the second, you don't need to check with
me unless you have questions, or you'd prefer a different topic.
List of Possible Topics
The Figure of Morgan le Fay
The Lady of the
Merlin the Magician
Wace's Contribution to the Story of Arthur: The Round Table
The Legend of the Return of Arthur
The Origin and Significance of the Isle of Avalon
Chrétien and romance as a genre
Andreas Capellanus: The Meaning of Courtly Love
Chrétien's Concept of a Knight
Chrétien's Yvain and the Welsh "Lady of the Fountain"
Origins of Lancelot and Chrétien's Presentation of him as Knight of the Cart
Chrétien and Courtly Love
The Origin and Development of Gawain: The English and French Views of his
Character
The German Arthur?
Perceval: Permutations and Combinations
The Figure of Sir Kay: Welsh or French?
The Medieval Wheel of Fortune
The Alliterative Revival of the Fourteenth Century
Who was Sir Thomas Malory?
Theories of Grail Origin
The Function of the Grail Quest in the Morte Darthure
Malory and Amour Courtois
The Victorian Interest in Medievalism
2. Adaptation paper.
Alternatively, you may also
choose an adaptation from the following list to write about, indicating how the novel
differs from the sources we have read.
Berger, Thomas. Arthur Rex.
Bradshaw, Gillian. Hawk of May.
In Winter's Shadow.
Chapman, Vera. The King's Damosel.
The Green Knight.
King Arthur's Daughter
Labenthal, Sanders Ann. Excalibur.
Lewis, C.S. That Hideous Strength
Malamud, Bernard. The Natural
Monaco, Richard. Parzival or the Knight's Tale.
Pyle, Howard. The Story of King Arthur and his Knights.
Seton, Anya. Avalon.
Steinbeck, John. The Acts of King Arthur and his Noble Knights.
Stewart, Mary. The
The Hollow Hills.
The Last Enchantment.
The Wicked Day.
Sutcliff, Rosemary. The Sword and the Circle.
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
-------, Sword at Sunset.
Twain, Mark. A
White, T. H. The Book of Merlin.
Williams, Charles. Taliessen through Loges.
Region of the Summer Stars.
War in Heaven.
II. Power-Point Presentation (20 mins.)
The major project in this course will be a group power point presenation on a modern
filmic treatment of the Arthurian
legend that you all will view in addition to the assigned reading material. Three-four students will be
assigned to each 2-hr. film with an eye to an in-class presentation/moderation
of class discussion. Each student should prepare a 20 min. presentation on some
aspect of the film. Groups can decide how to organize the topics for any
presentation.
For this project you will be
asked to consider two topics: the director’s use of Arthurian sources and the work’s
artistic merit. That is, you should consider how the director/screenplay
writer makes use of the medieval materials related to Arthur and his knights and then determine whether or not the author has
written an effective
story or work of art. Although all the films will be available for viewing at
Fondren, they may not be available elsewhere in
In researching your project, also be sure to consider the following:
1. Does the director reach a different conclusion or provide a different outlook on the
character(s) than does his or her medieval source?
2. In what other ways does the director's source differ from the medieval sources? What does the director
gain by altering his or her medieval source or including Arthurian materials in the story?
3. Is the author's use of Arthurian materials appropriate to the point s/he or she wishes
to make? Why?
4. How does film as a medium
allow perspectives to emerge differently from romance and chronicle?
5. How does the director
interweave a contemporary cultural perspective into the film’s treatment or
adaptation of Arthurian materials?
For additional help with writing problems see William Strunk and E.B. White, The Elements of Style.
III. Examinations: two, Oct. 7
and Dec. 2.
E-exams, honor code-bound.
IV. Bibliography
Very Recent Secondary Bibliography (in our library)
DA152.5 .A7 F55
2004
King Arthur and the myth of
history / Laurie A. Finke and Martin B. Shichtman
Finke, Laurie.
DA152.5 .A7 A53
2004
King Arthur in antiquity /
Graham Anderson
Anderson, Graham.
BL432 .H88 2003
Witches, druids and King
Arthur / Ronald Hutton
Hutton, Ronald.
ML3849 .K55 2002
King Arthur in music /
edited by Richard Barber
Barber, Richard W. copies:
at:
pubyear: 1 (MUSIC)
FINE-ARTS
2002
PS374 .A78 M38
2002
The King Arthur myth in
modern American literature / by Andrew E. Mathis
Mathis, Andrew E. 1969-
DA152.5 .A7 K57
2002
King Arthur in popular
culture / edited by Elizabeth S. Sklar and Donald L. Hoffman ; foreword by Alan
Lupack
Sklar, Elizabeth Sherr.
DA152.5 .A7 H53
2002
King Arthur : myth-making
and history / N.J. Higham
Higham, N. J.
PN686 .A7 K56 2002
King Arthur : a casebook /
edited with an introduction by Edward Donald Kennedy
Kennedy, Edward Donald.
PN6071 .A84 L44
2001
Legends of King Arthur /
selected and presented by Richard Barber
Barber, Richard W.
DA152.5 .A7 C37
2000 (Online)
King Arthur [electronic
resource] : the truth behind the legend / Rodney Castleden ; illustrated by the
author
Castleden, Rodney.
PT5132 .K56 2000
King Arthur in the medieval
Claassens, G. H. M. (Geert
H. M.)
PN57 .A6 S692 2000
The world of King Arthur /
Christopher Snyder ; original illustrations by Samuel Valentino
Snyder, Christopher A.
PR468 .N293 B37
2000
Myth and national identity
in nineteenth century
Barczewski, Stephanie L.
DA152.5 .A7 C37
2000
King Arthur : the truth
behind the legend / Rodney Castleden ; illustrated by the author
Castleden, Rodney.
PS169 .A9 L86 1999
(Online)
King Arthur in
Lupack, Alan.
PN1995.9 .A75 K56
1999
King Arthur on film : new
essays on Arthurian cinema / edited by Kevin J. Harty
Harty, Kevin J. copies:
at:
pubyear: 1 (ART)
FINE-ARTS
1999
PS169 .A9 L86 1999
King Arthur in
Lupack, Alan.
Classic Secondary Studies, also in
Fondren:
Alcock, Leslie. Arthur's
Barber, Richard. King Arthur in Legend and History.
Benson, Larry D. Malory's Morte D'Arthur.
Bradbook, Muriel C. Sir Thomas Malory.
Bruce, James Douglas. The Evolution of Arthurian Romance. (2 vols.)
Chambers, E. K. Arthur of
Dean, Christopher. Arthur in the Middle Ages
Fenster, Thelma, and Mary
Erler, eds. Women in Arthurian Literature
Lambert, Mark. Malory: Style and Vision in Le Morte d'Arthur.
Loomis, Roger Sherman, ed. Arthurian Literature of the Middle Ages. (
______. The Development of Arthurian Romance.
Matthews, William. The Ill-Framed Knight: A Skeptical Inquiry into the Identity of Sir Thomas Malory.
Moorman, Charles. A Knight There Was: The Evolution of the Knight in Literature.
Moorman, Charles and Ruth. An Arthurian Dictionary.
Newman, F. X., ed. The Meaning of Courtly Love.
Paton, Lucy. Studies in the Fairy Mythology of Arthurian Romance.
Tatlock, J.S.P. The Legendary History of
Vinaver, Eugene. The Rise of Romance.
_______________. The Works of Sir Thomas Malory.(3 vols.;
Weston, Jessie. From Ritual to Romance.
White, T. H. The Book of Merlyn.
Williams, Charles. War in Heaven
CONFERENCES:
Office Hours 4-5
Thurs. and by appointment
Office 235 Herring Hall
Office Phone x2625
Dept. Secty: x4840 Office
Fax: 348-5991
e-mail: jchance@rice.edu
web page: http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~jchance
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~jchance/arthurian.htm
IV.
Disability Notice:
1.
Any student with a documented disability needing academic adjustments
or accommodations is requested to speak with me during the first two weeks of
class. All discussions will remain
confidential. Students with disabilities
will need to contact Disability Support Services in the
2.
Any student with a disability requiring accommodations in this course
is encouraged to contact me after class or during office hours. Additionally, students will need to contact
Disability Support Services in the
3. If you have a documented disability that will
impact your work in this class, please contact me to discuss your needs. Additionally, you will need to register with
the Disability Support Services Office in the