Kathryn Lynch
Department of English
Founders 111
Office hours:
M / W / Th 11-12
and by appointment
ext. 2575, or
e-mail: klynch [at] wellesley [dot] edu
Did he really exist? Or was he fictional? Although these alternatives appear simple, the questions they raise are not easily answered. The great hero-king of Dark Ages Britain, Arthur, whether he "existed" or not, quickly became the nexus of legend and speculation. As the centuries passed, Arthurian myths expressed, in turn, the spirited ethos of the Celtic people; the imperialistic aspirations of the Norman conquerors; late medieval anxieties about gender, identity, and privacy; and, even before the Middle Ages were over, nostalgia for lost ideals of honor and chivalry. The Arthurian legend continues to haunt the modern imagination, whether as a suggestive parallel to contemporary turmoil or as a seductive escape – or both (as when John F. Kennedy's presidency was dubbed "Camelot on the Potomoc"). In this course, we will study this legend from literary, structural, and historical perspectives in an attempt to understand the underlying sources of its appeal, while recognizing the fundamental ways in which the legends have changed over time. Our disciplinary approach, however, will be chiefly literary, as we will look closely at the language and thematic organization of fictionalized accounts of the Arthurian story from the 11th through the 21st centuries, with an emphasis on the earlier periods. We will also explore how the Arthurian theme has been taken up in other media, especially in film where it has been a favorite and recurring motif. Arthurian Legends counts as a unit toward the English major, though not toward the period distribution requirement for the English major.
The History of the Kings of Britain, Geoffrey
of Monmouth (Penguin edition)
Arthurian Romances, Chrétien de Troyes (Penguin, trans. William Kibler)
Sir Gawain and the Grene Knight, trans. W. S. Merwin
King Arthur and His Knights: Selected Tales, Sir Thomas
Malory (Oxford UP edition)
Idylls of the King, Alfred, Lord Tennyson (Penguin edition)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Mark Twain(Bantam edition)
Additional texts available on e-reserves (Dante, Marie de France "How Culhwch
Won Olwen")
This course has an electronic conference (ME/R247-S05), which includes various subconferences – for electronic reserves, general discussion, course materials, and announcements. I am also putting required and related materials on reserve; these include several film versions that will be useful to students in their oral presentations, when they are working with non-print media. I cannot, however, make all film versions available through our library, and students will need to make their own arrangements for obtaining those that are not available on campus. The reserve list, of course, can be found on the college library website.
This course requires two short papers (about 5 pages in length) and an oral
presentation (focusing on non-print media; a third paper can substitute); there
will also be a mini-midterm and a final exam. (I will be distributing separate
materials describing these assessments as the time for them approaches.) Each
paper will count about 20% of the course-grade, as will also the oral presentation
(or alternate paper) and the final exam. The mini-midterm will count about
10%, and an additional 10% is reserved for participation (which includes not
only how much you talk, but also the quality of what you say, your general
attentiveness in class, contributions to the electronic course conference,
and other less quantifiable elements of participation).
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Grading is an art not a science; I will endeavor mightily to be as fair and
responsible as I can be in evaluating your work, but I will not necessarily
weight these assignments by an exact numerical formula. The grade I give you
at the end of the course will partly reflect where I think you are at the end;
thus, later grades may "count" more than earlier ones, and I may
be harder on some kinds of shortcomings than on others (like major errors of
fact at the end of the semester). If you have a question about a grade, I encourage
you to come and talk to me about it. I will look at paper drafts in advance
(though I will make only general comments rather than specific corrections);
I do not allow rewrites for a higher grade, but I am happy to read and comment
on a paper revision. Late papers are strongly discouraged. Although I will
accept them, they will be held to an appreciably higher standard than work
turned in on time – the later the paper the higher the standard. I will
grant extensions without penalty only in cases of illness (bad enough so you
really couldn't write the paper) or true family emergency. Please do not ask
me for an extension because of an overload of work in other classes. My other
pet peeve: students walking in and out of the classroom while class is in session.
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Monday, January 31: Introductory – the Shape of the Myth – the historical (?) Arthur.
Thursday, February 3: Celtic Arthur: "How Culhwch Won Olwen," from The Mabinogion (e-reserves).
Monday, Feburary 7: Norman Arthur, selections from Geoffrey of Monmouth, The History of the Kings of Britain, pp. 53-54, 72, 149-211.
Thursday, February 10: Geoffrey of Monmouth, 212-261, 282-84.
Monday, February 14: Filmic Arthur: "King Arthur" (2004) ("the untold true story that inspired the legend'?)
Thursday, February 17: mini-midterm (I'll be out of town today at a conference in Arizona; midterm will be administered in class).
Monday, February 21: President's Day – no class.
Thursday, February 24: French Arthur: Chrétien de Troyes, The Knight of the Cart (in Arthurian Romances, pp. 207-250.)
Monday, February 28: continue discussion of Chrétien's Knight of the Cart, pp. 250-94.
Thursday, March 3: finish Chrétien, Dante's Inferno, Canto 5 (e-reserves)
Monday, March 7: Anglo-Norman Arthur: "The Lai of Lanval" (e-reserves)
Thursday, March 10: Middle English Arthur: Sir Gawain and the Grene Knight
(Fitt 1)
Monday, March 14: Sir Gawain and the Grene Knight (Fitts 2-3)
Thursday, March 17: Sir Gawain and the Grene Knight (Fitt 4); first paper
due
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*Spring Break*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
Monday, March 28: Late Medieval Arthur: Sir Thomas Malory, King Arthur and His Knights, pp. 3-49.
Thursday, March 31: Sir Thomas Malory, King Arthur and His Knights, pp. 51-100.
Monday, April 4: Sir Thomas Malory, King Arthur and His Knights, pp. 101-155.
Thursday, April 7: Sir Thomas Malory, King Arthur and His Knights, pp. 157-226.
Monday, April 11: Victorian Arthur: Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Idylls of the King, pp. 21-35, 125-41, 168-205.
Thursday, April 14: Tennyson, Idylls of the King, pp. 205-47.
Monday, April 18: No class (Patriot's Day)
Thursday, April 21: Tennyson, Idylls of the King, pp. 248-300 / visit of Kathleen Kelly, Knights of the Round Table
Monday, April, 25: American Arthur: Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, chapters 1-23.
Thursday, April 28: Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, chapters 24-44.
Monday, May 2: Arthur in the movies (oral reports)
Thursday, May 5: Arthur in the movies (oral reports)
Monday, May 9: Finishing up....
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