HENB01151U English - Elective 4, topic 1: The Rise, Fall and Revival of the Arthurian Legend

Having its origin in the early 5th century collapse of Britain as an established Roman province, the Arthurian legend began as a Celtic praise of political freedom. With the arrival of the Normans in England in 1066, the political theme was continued, very much as an attempt to create a feeling of  'us' against the French, but in the high and late Middle Ages the legend changed direction and became the vehicle for other contemporary issues. Also known as the Matter of Britain, the Arthurian legend went into decline during the Renaissance due to the decline of medieval ideals, and the Neo-Classical period saw a continuation of this phenomenon, but the legend experienced a Victorian revival in the 19th century that tied in with Victorian medievalism, a revival that still continued in the 20th century with remarkable literary and other kinds of productions. Texts will include Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and extracts from Malory’s Le Morte Darthur, among others, from the Middle Ages, The Idylls of the King written under the influence of the Industrial Revolution, and selections from The Once and Future King and The Mists of Avalon written during World War II and in the early 1980ies respectively.