English 201: English Literature to 1700
Prof. Boyer

The best beginning procedure is always to read the assignment all the way through, keeping track of characters, so that you know what's happening. If possible, read the whole work first. Try to get the big picture of the book (or section, or chapter) before getting bogged down in details. Read through, then go back and clear up details. Then you're ready to read the work closely with these questions in mind. Page and line numbers in parentheses refer to The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 7th ed. (N7).

Please note: Additional Arthurian material is available on the Norton Topics Online website. Enter the site at
www.wwnorton.com/nael and select the Middle Ages from the text on that page. Then select the Arthurian section.

In 410 the Roman army left Britain, which had been Roman for almost 400 years. The romanized Britons were told to look to their own defenses, which were needed because of attacks from the Picts and Scots to the north and from the Anglo-Saxons from the sea in the east and south. (The traditional date for the beginning of the Anglo-Saxon settlements in Britain is 449.) Sometime after midcentury the Britons mounted a successful defense, culminating in a major victory over the Anglo-Saxons at the battle of Mount Badon somewhere in the west of Britain. The result was fifty years of peace before the Anglo-Saxons renewed their push, resulting in the Anglo-Saxon conquest of all of Britain except Cornwall, Wales (an Anglo-Saxon word meaning "foreign"), and highland Scotland. In the 460s and 470s many Britons fled across the English Channel and settled in Brittany (in the northwest of what is now France). These people are called Bretons.

The Welsh apparently maintained and developed stories about an Arthur who was the supreme leader against the Anglo-Saxons in the initial struggles leading to the Battle of Mount Badon. These stories entered the mainstream of European literature in the twelfth century, initially through the Latin History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1100-1155), a churchman probably of Welsh or Breton ancestry.

1. Note the idea of a "foundation myth" in the introduction (p. 115). Remember that the one datable event in Beowulf is the death of Hygelac in about 520, which is close to the supposed date of "Arthur's" victory at Mount Badon in about 500. With Anglo-Saxon literature and history, we were looking at the invaders' side of the Anglo-Saxon invasion. Now, with the legendary history of Britain, including the stories about Arthur, we are looking from the viewpoint of the losing British side. And notice peeking around the edges of the introduction a sense of the great culture of the High Middle Ages (twelfth and thirteenth centuries), a period not previously covered in English literature courses because there was almost no important literature written in English, then the language of the defeated lower classes.

2. What is the relationship of Brutus to Aeneas? Who are Brutus's parents? What is foretold about Brutus's birth? Does it come to pass? What does Diana prophesy for Brutus and his followers? What rituals are performed? What does the prophecy assume about the physical shape of the earth? (Actually, the Celtic/British tribe living near London when the Romans arrived were the "Trinovantes," which may have contributed to thinking of London as "New Troy.")

1. Notice in the headnote that Wace is writing in French for the aristocracy, including Eleanor of Aquitaine, and that as a result he adds a courtly atmosphere to the story.

2. What accusations does the Roman emperor make against Arthur? How does Arthur treat the messengers? What is his answer to the Roman challenge? What seems to be his political philosophy? Do the others agree? What authorities are used to justify his attack on Rome?

1. Notice in the headnote that Layamon is writing in Middle English about 1190. Henry II died in 1189, leaving England to his son Richard Coeur de Lion. Also notice Layamon's echo of Germanic mythological elements. And notice that Morderd has usurped both kingdom and queen. By Malory's time, 300 years later, someone else will have "usurped" Arthur's queen.

2. Where is Arthur? Where is Burgundy? What sort of success has he had at Rome? Who comes to him? What does this person tell Arthur at first?

3. What does Arthur dream? How does the dream affect him?

4. What does the knight tell Arthur? How do Arthur and the court respond to the news? What does Arthur plan to do?

1. Why might it be important for the Welsh and Bretons to believe that Arthur might return?

2. What does Geoffrey say? Does he believe or suggest that Arthur might return?

3. What does Wace say (writing in Anglo-Norman for the ruling class)? Is Arthur dead or is he alive? What authority does he cite? How well does he trust this authority?

4. What does Layamon say (writing in English)? Does his Arthur believe that he will return? Who believes he will return? What authority does he cite. Does Layamon seem to believe that Arthur will return? Knowing what you know about Arthur's story, what is surprising about Layamon reporting that, according to Merlin, "Arthur once again would come to aid the English"?

1. First, notice from the headnote that Marie's identity and dates are unclear but that she was probably writing in the court of Henry II (1154-1189) and may have been related to him.

2. At the beginning of Lanval, why is Arthur in the north at Carlisle? What is being celebrated? What happens when Arthur gives out gifts? What kinds of gifts does he distribute (line 17)? How does this compare with gift-giving in Beowulf? What about Lanval? What is Lanval's response?

3. What happens when Lanval goes riding (lines 37-74)? Who comes to him? What do they say?

4. What happens when Lanval visits the lady (lines 75-186)? What does she tell him? What is his response? What does she give him? What is the catch? (That is, what must he do in return?)

5. What happens when he returns to the city (lines 187-212)? Is Lanval happy? How does he treat others?

6. What happens when the queen goes outside with her ladies on St. John's Day (lines 213 ff.)? (St. John's Day is June 24. Pentecost, when the story began, occurs between May 10 and June 13.) Does Lanval join in the fun? What does the queen offer him (lines 257-262)? What is his response (lines 263-268)? What does she accuse him of (lines 269-280)? How does Lanval respond to this provocation (lines 281-296)? Why will he later regret what he said?

7. What happens when the king comes to the queen's chamber (lines 297-325)? What does the queen accuse Lanval of? How honest is she? How does the king respond? Whom does he send to Lanval and why? Have you met this story before? (One version is Biblical: Potiphar's wife accusing her husband's servant Joseph in the Bible; another is classical: Phaedra accusing her stepson Hippolytus to her husband and his father Theseus in Euripides' Hippolytus.)

8. How is Lanval responding (lines 326-352)? Why is he so sad? What happens when the barons arrive? What would he like them to do (line 352)?

9. What happens when Lanval comes before the king (lines 353-412)? How does he answer the accusation? How does he find pledges? Who are his pledges and what do they pledge? After Lanval returns to his lodging, why do the knights keep checking up on him?

10. What happens on the first part of the trial day (lines 413-464)? What are the barons to do? What possible decisions are there? What do they decide would free him of the charges (lines 447-454)? If he is not freed of the charges, what will the penalty be (lines 455-458)? What does Lanval respond (lines 459-464)?

11. What happens when the return to deliver their verdict (lines 465-504)? What do the two girls ask? Does Lanval recognize them? Does anyone connect their arrival with Lanval's trial? What is the verdict of the barons (lines 501-504)? (Notice that the barons function more like a grand jury than a trial jury.)

12. What happens when the trial is reconvened (lines 506-544)? What do the two girls ask? Does Lanval recognize them? Does anyone connect their arrival with Lanval's trial? Why is the king eager to have the judgment (lines 540-544)? Does line 539 perhaps give another reason?

13. What happens when the barons are about to give their judgment (lines 545-630)? How is this girl described? How does everyone respond to her? What happens when Lanval sees her? What does he ask for? What does the lady tell the king (lines 613-623)? Does this free Lanval?

14. What does Lanval do when she leaves (lines 625-644)? Has the lady invited him to go with her? Has she forgiven him? Does she let him go with her? Where do they go? Sound familiar?

Introduction (pp. 419-421)
1. First, notice Malory's dates and history in the headnote on p. 419. The Morte Darthur was written almost 350 years after Geoffrey of Monmouth introduced the Arthurian story to the Normans and French. The book was finished in 1469-1470 but first appeared in public as a printed book when William Caxton printed it in 1485 (the year Henry Tudor defeated Richard III and became Henry VII) and it became one of the great classics of English prose. A manuscript was discovered only in 1934, and our selection is based on the manuscript text. The spelling and punctuation have been modernized, but for the first time in the course you are reading the writer's actual words. This is English prose as written about a hundred years before Shakespeare.

[The Conspiracy against Lancelot and Guinevere / War Breaks Out Between Arthur and Lancelot] (pp. 421-429)
1. Who are Sir Agravain and Sir Mordred (p. 421)? Why are they unhappy with Queen Guinevere and Sir Lancelot? What are the knights arguing about (pp. 421-422)? What do Sir Gawain and Sir Gareth say will happen if Arthur is told (p. 422)? What happens when Sir Agravain and Sir Mordred tell Arthur (pp. 422-423)? What does Arthur know? What do they plan?

2. Does the plan work (pp. 423-426)? What happens when Sir Lancelot is warned? What happens when he goes in to see the Queen? What happens when Sir Lancelot can get no armor (p. 424)? What does the Queen expect to happen to her? What does she expect Sir Lancelot to do if he is free? What trick does Sir Lancelot use to get armor (p. 425)? What does Sir Lancelot do to escape when they won't let him leave? Whet does he then suggest to the Queen (p. 426)? What does she respond? What does he promise to do?

3. What happens at the Queen's execution (pp. 426-427)? What is Arthur's response (pp. 427-428)? What happens when Sir Gawain is told of the death of Sir Gaharis and Sir Gareth and goes to Arthur (pp. 428-429)? What happens between this section and the next one. (See note 8 on p. 430)? Notice how the attack on Lancelot in France for personal reasons has replaced Arthur's military conquest of continental Europe in Geoffrey of Monmouth's version of the story.

[The Death of Arthur] (pp. 430-435)
1. What does Arthur dream (p. 430)? What warning does he receive in his dream, and from whom? What does Arthur do in response to the dream, and how successful is it (pp. 430-431)? What causes the failure of the truce?

2. By the end of the day, how many knights are left (p. 431)? What happens when Arthur and Sir Mordred fight (p. 432)? Where do Sir Lucan and Sir Bedivere take Arthur? What does Sir Lucan see in the field? What happens to him?

3. What does Arthur send Sir Bedivere to do (pp. 433-434)? How many times does it take? What happens when he does it correctly? What happens to Arthur (pp. 434-435)? Where is Arthur taken? What does Malory speculate about the fate of Arthur? How does this compare with what Geoffrey of Monmouth, Wace, and Layamon say (pp. 124-126)?

[The Deaths of Lancelot and Guinevere] (pp. 435-439)
1. What happens to Lancelot and Guinevere before the next section? (See note 1 on p. 435)? What does Lancelot dream and how does he respond to his dream (pp. 435-436) What happens to Lancelot when Guinevere is buried? What happens to Sir Lancelot after her death, and how do others learn of his death (pp. 436-437)? Where was Sir Lancelot buried, and who arrives at the end of the service (pp. 437-438)? Who is chosen king and what does he do (p. 438)? What are the various versions of what happened to the remaining knights (p. 438)?

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