Forging Chivalric Communities In Malory's Le Morte Darthur

by Hodges, Kenneth

• ISBN13: 9781403967602
• ISBN10: 1403967601
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-06-05
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Forging Chivalric Communities examines how Malory presents chivalry as a dynamic code shaped by communities large and small for their own purposes, from the national effort of England to free itself of the Roman legacy to Trystram's energy as a champion of Cornwall, to women's efforts to include themselves in the chivalric world. Hodges shows that Malory treats chivalry not as a static institution but rather, as a dynamic, continually evolving ideal. Le Morte D'arthur is structured to trace how communities and individuals adapt or create chivalric codes for their own purposes; in turn, Hodges asserts, codes of chivalry shape groups and their customs.

Author Biography

Kenneth Hodges is Assistant Professor of English, Keene State College.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction: Medieval by a Month	1	(10)
1. English Knights, French Books, and Literary Communities	11	(24)
2. Swords and Sorceresses: Creating a Chivalric Community	35	(28)
3. Of Knights and Nations	63	(16)
4. Regional Politics	79	(30)
5. Shifting Boundaries: Religious Communities and the Grail	109	(20)
6. The Death of Guinevere	129	(26)
Afterword	155	(4)
Notes	159	(32)
Bibliography	191	(12)
Index	203