Arthurian
Legend and Literature
Kenneth
Hodges
301
Gittinger
Office
Hours MWF 10:30-11:30
Tentative
Schedule.
Date Reading/Paper Events Things to Think About
Jan 13 M
15 W Geoffrey of Monmouth This is a very different Arthur than the one we know. What
(205-261) audience is this aimed for? What values is Geoffrey
celebrating?
19 F Yvain (295-328) How is this different from Geoffrey? What roles do the
women play? The marvels? The initial story?
20 M MLK – no class
22 W Yvain (328-380) What roles does the lion play? What does Yvain learn?
24 F Erec et Enide (37-122) How does this relate to Yvain? How do beauty, prowess,
class, and gender interact?
27 M Lancelot (207-294) How does the Christian imagery work in this tale? How does
adultery change the relations between love and prowess we’ve
seen in other tales?
29 W Parzival I-III (4-98) What role do pagans and Feirifiz play? What does Parzival’s
upbringing do to ideas that aristocrats were naturally superior?
31 F Parzival IV-V (99-151) How does Parzival perform in love and war? What does the
Grail castle signify, and why do questions matter?
Feb 3 M Parzival VI-VII How do Gawain, Parzival, and Arthur fit together in this
(152-213) story?
5 W Parzival VIII-X What do Gawain’s and Parzival’s adventures have to with
(214-294) each other and the Grail?
7 F Paper Workshop
10 M Parzival XI-XVI What role does the Castle of Wonders play? What do we make of the ending?
(295-431)
12 W SGGK Fytte 1 Why is the Green Knight Green?
14 F SGGK Fytte 2 What kind of man is Gawain? How do we know? What counts as an adventure?
First
Paper Due
17 M SGGK Fytte 3 Who is hunting whom? What does the lady offer?
19 W SGGK Fytte 4 Of what is Gawain guilty? Is he redeemed? What does Arthur’s court learn?
21 F “Gawain and Ragnell” Is Ragnell a major character? What’s at stake in Gawain’s choices?
24 M WOB Prologue Who is the Wife of Bath? What does she know? What is she responding to?
26 W WOB Prologue How does one describe (or imagine) a happy marriage?
28 F WOB Tale Why does the WOB tell this tale? How does the tale compare to “Gawain and Ragnell”?
March 3 M Malory 1-48 Why all the initial violence? What makes Arthur worthy to be king?
5 W Malory 49-110 What role does Balin play? Nimue? What leads to the
Round Table oath?
7 F Malory 111-148 What roles do Accolon, Pelleas, Morgan, and Nimue play?
10 M Malory 175-208 Is Launcelot sleeping with Guinevere? And why do so many
people ask? How does Launcelot relate to women? What role
does the comedy play?
12 W Malory 209-277 How does Gareth compare to Launcelot? Why does Lyones
change her mind? And what role does Lyonet play?
14 F 2nd Paper Workshop
Spring Break
24 M Malory 800-864 What role does the maid of Astolat play? What do we learn
about Launcelot
26 W Malory 865-938 Who is responsible how for the fall? Is Gawain justified?
Why do Launcelot and Guinevere die holy?
28 F Review Malory Why is Malory’s retelling so influential?
Second Paper Due
31 M Tennsyon, “Dedication,” What is Tennyson trying to accomplish with his style? What
“Arthur,” “Gareth.” is his vision of Arthur? Why does he so dramatically change
Gareth?
April 2 W Tennyson, “Geraint,” What role does Guinevere play? How has the story changed?
“Geraint and Enid”
4 F Tennyson, “Balin and What is the psychology of Balin? How does Vivien relate to
Balan,” “Merlin and Nimue? Why does she attract Merlin? What role does
“Vivien” Guinevere have?
7 M Tennyson, “Lancelot,” Why focus on Elaine? Is the Grail good? How are people
“Grail” moved to seek the Grail? How does the Grail relate to Arthur?
9 W Tennyson, “Pelleas,” Why focus on Tristan’s death, which Malory omits? Why
“The Last Tournament.” Make Pelleas tragic and foolish?
11 F Tennyson, “Guinevere,” How do we judge Arthur and Guinevere? What does this have
“The Passing of Arthur,” to do with Victoria and Victorian England?
“To the Queen.”
14 M Victorian poets (Xerox) What are the relations between men and women? Between
poets, audiences, and the past?
16 W Twain TBA
18 F Twain TBA
21 M Twain TBA
23 W Twain TBA
25 F Twain TBA
Third
Paper Due
28 M Monty Python
30 W Monty Python
May 2 F Conclusion
Third
Paper due on day of Exam
Required
Texts: Geoffrey of Monmouth, History of the Kings of Brittain
Chrétien de Troyes, Arthurian
Romances, trans. Kibler and Carroll.
Wolfram von Eschenbach, Parzival,
trans. Mustard and Passage.
Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight,
trans. Marie Borroff.
Geoffrey Chaucer, The
Wife of Bath.
Sir Thomas Malory, Le
Morte Darthur.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Idylls
of the King.
Mark Twain, A Connecticut
Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.
Course pack (Crimson and
Cream).
Requirements:
A willingness to participate and to learn Middle English
3 papers (two 5-6 pages,
one 8-10 pages)
Quizzes
Attendance
Grading: First paper: 25%
Second paper: 25%
Third paper: 30%
Participation: 10%
Quizzes: 10%
Attendance is
mandatory.
Grading Standards: It's impossible to put down hard and fast rules, but the
following rules of thumb might give you an idea of what I am looking for.
An
A is a paper with interesting,
well-developed ideas, presented with convincing detail and skillful
language.
A
B has good ideas, but it is probably
not as subtle as an A paper, and it may lack a sense of the implications of the
ideas. The language and supporting
detail is sufficient to do the job.
A
C often makes an obvious point or
discusses a subject without coming to a firm conclusion. Sometimes murkiness in the prose prevents
interesting ideas from being conveyed.
A
D does not adequately address the
assignment. The language may be
confusing and distracting; the ideas scattered and incoherent.
An
F has such problems in content and
language that is not useful even as a starting point for revision.
Late papers: A paper that is late to me
will go down a third of a grade a day until I receive it (so don’t just stick
it in my mailbox, in case I forget to check my mail for a couple of days). I will make exceptions that are reasonable in
my judgment, and the earlier you talk to me, the more likely I am to judge an
excuse reasonable.
Plagiarism: As a rough rule of thumb, plagiarism is presenting as your own
work something which someone else might reasonably consider her own work. This includes not only quoting without acknowledgment,
but also using ideas without acknowledgment, even if those ideas are
re-worded. You do not need to cite a
source for well-known facts (for instance when Teddy Roosevelt was elected),
even if you looked it up; do cite a source for obscure facts (the literacy rate
of London in 1450). Cutting and pasting
from internet sources is plagiarism unless you cite not only every line but
every idea taken from a website.
When
in doubt, do two things. Ask me. And cite your sources.
If
all or part of a paper is plagiarized, that paper automatically gets an F. Unless there are mitigating circumstances,
the student will also get an F for the course, and I will report the incident
to the appropriate authorities.