Graduation Semester and Year
2018
Language
English
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in English
Department
English
First Advisor
Kevin Gustafson
Abstract
Concepts of masculinity and chivalry in the medieval period were socially constructed, within both the sacred and the secular realms. The different meanings of these concepts were not always easily compatible, causing tensions within the literature that attempted to portray them. The Arthurian world became a place that these concepts, and the issues that could arise when attempting to act upon them, could be explored. In this dissertation, I explore these concepts specifically through the characters of Lancelot, Galahad, and Gawain. Representative of earthly chivalry and heavenly chivalry, respectively, Lancelot and Galahad are juxtaposed in the ways in which they perform masculinity and chivalry within the Arthurian world. Chrétien introduces Lancelot to the Arthurian narrative, creating the illicit relationship between him and Guinevere which tests both his masculinity and chivalry. The Lancelot-Grail Cycle takes Lancelot’s story and expands upon it, securely situating Lancelot as the best secular knight. This Cycle also introduces Galahad as the best sacred knight, acting as redeemer for his father. Gawain, in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, exemplifies both the earthly and heavenly aspects of chivalry, showing the fraught relationship between the two, resulting in the emasculating of Gawain. Finally, Malory’s Le Morte Darthur reestablishes the secular/sacred dynamic, attempting to elevate Lancelot again to best knight, but ultimately failing to resolve the issues that accompany the concepts of chivalry and masculinity. I explore these works, and others, to analyze the ways that masculinity and chivalry are portrayed and how they work with – and against – one another in Arthurian literature.
Keywords
Masculinity, Arthurian literature
Disciplines
Arts and Humanities | English Language and Literature
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
McCourt, Kaci, "Masculinity and Chivalry: The Tenuous Relationship of the Sacred and Secular in Medieval Arthurian Literature" (2018). English Dissertations. 86.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/english_dissertations/86
Comments
Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington