“kynde lorde”: Arthur’s Kingship in Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur

• Main Authors: Jenny Yun-zhen Chang, 張芸甄
• Other Authors: Denise Ming-yueh Wang
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/25955672521237646668

碩士 === 國立中正大學 === 外國語文研究所 === 101 === Sir Thomas Malory’s prose romance, Le Morte Darthur is a compilation of romance tales about King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. Much of recent Malorian studies tend to contextualize the Morte. By contextualizing the Morte within its gentry culture and applying the theory of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), I aim to provide a reading of the Morte in a novel way. In the Introduction, Malory’s gentry background is briefly introduced along with an overview of the authorship question. The first chapter examines the historicity of King Arthur in Malory’s Morte. In this chapter, I argue that our interpretation of the Morte depends much on our knowledge of the milieu in which the edited texts were published. In this regard, it is vitally important for us to historicize the text when we read either Caxton’s edition or the Winchester Manuscript. The second chapter explores Arthur’s role as a “kynde lorde” (245.17). I point out the similarities and differences between Malory’s Morte and his English and French sources, such as Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae, The Story of Merlin (Estoir de Merlin) and Merlin Continuation (Suite de Merlin). I conclude that Malory’s Arthur appears to his readers more a Chief Executive Officer than simply an inborn warrior-king. The third chapter discusses the CEO-king’s ruling and political achievements in the last tale of the Morte. In light of the theory of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), King Arthur’s political deeds are analysed. Unlike the warrior-King Arthurs in Arthurian literature, I argue that Malory’s Arthur is an English monarch who possesses not only royal blood but also remarkable leadership and martial excellence. The nobility of a “kynde lorde” (245.17) manifests “thorow dygnyte of his hondys” (247.4). The thesis concludes that in Malory’s view, kingship has more to do with the king’s managerial ability than with his royal blood.