Date of Award
2009
Degree Name
History
College
College of Liberal Arts
Type of Degree
M.A.
Document Type
Thesis
First Advisor
Laura Michele Diener
Second Advisor
David Winter
Third Advisor
William Palmer
Abstract
Authors have given Queen Guinevere of the Arthurian stories a wide variety of personalities; she has been varyingly portrayed as seductive, faithful, “fallen,” powerful, powerless, weak-willed, strong-willed, even as an inheritor of a matriarchal tradition. These personalities span eight centuries and are the products of their respective times and authors much more so than of any historical Guinevere. Despite this, however, threads of similarity run throughout many of the portrayals: she had power in some areas and none in others; she was involved in a courtly romance; and she did not produce an heir to the throne. None of these were unique to her, either; either stereotypes or literary convention demanded them all. I examine Guinevere’s portrayals by three influential medieval writers, Chrétien de Troyes, Marie de France, and Sir Thomas Malory, compare them to historical queens, and show that although their representations of her emphasized different aspects, together they add up to a portrait of a medieval literary queen both stereotypical and human.
Subject
Guenevere, Queen (Legendary character)
Subject
Arthurian romances
Subject
Queens - Medieval influences
Recommended Citation
Grady, Jessica, "Power, Courtly Love, and a Lack of Heirs : Guinevere and Medieval Queens" (2009). Theses, Dissertations and Capstones. 69.
https://mds.marshall.edu/etd/69
