The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley, is not only an example of a Medieval Romance, but also tells the story of the women who stood behind King Arthur during his infamous reign in the Middle Ages. The term “Medieval Romance” does not necessarily mean that the piece using it contains any sort of romance. There are three criteria that must be meet to form a Medieval Romance. (1) The plot must divide into sharply separate episodes that often do
The faces of the Goddess Throughout history women have empowered themselves by taking on many different titles and roles. This can be seen in the two allegorical fantasy novels The Mists of Avalon and Forest house, both written by Marion Zimmer Bradley. In both novels we see the female protagonists take on many different roles as they move throughout the different stages of their lives. In the novels it is believed that the Goddess shows herself in every woman. The stages and roles held
Mercedes Lackey Dear Mercedes Lackey, You probably get letters from people everyday who say what I’m gonna say, but oh well. See, I am a huge fan of your work, and just recently got told to write a LAL (Letters about Literature) for one of my favorite books, and since I didn’t feel like writing to the judges on your Dragons Bane Trilogy, I decided I would write my letter as if talking to you. As I said before, we have to write a letter explaining our favorite book, so, to explain the Dragons
second world war, and second wave feminism. These issues were reflected in the works of T.H White and Marion Zimmer Bradley; they adapted the Arthurian legend to address the issues that were facing at the time as well as some of their own personal issues. T.H White used the Arthurian legend and it’s characters to comment on and look at fascism and World War II. During the 20th century Marion Zimmer Bradley used the Arthurian Legend to look at feminism as well as showing some conflict of religion that she
The Transforming Journey of Two Unlikely Heroes In the Harry Potter and Lord of the rings series, both Neville Longbottom and Samwise Gamgee start their journey as undervalued people that undergo metamorphosis evolving into heroes. At the beginning of their respective journeys, Neville and Sam are viewed as ordinary people. Both are everyday characters who rise to fulfill heroic roles, motivated by loyalty, integrity and the love for friends. When the story begins, Sam is a simple gardener, born
these woman can be both glorious and destructive. The Mists of Avalon's politics and intrigue take place at a time when Christianity is taking over the island-nation of Britain; Christianity vs. Faery, and God vs. Goddess are dominant themes. Marion Zimmer Bradley lets her opinion on Christianity show through with shocking statements such as: “Then (Morgaine) sighed and said, ‘ I think it is a sin to believe that God can be cruel or vindictive, and you would make him meaner than the worst of his priests
The Depiction of Morgan Le Fay in Various Accounts of The Arthurian Legend Morgaine speaks.... "In my time I have been called many things: sister, lover, priestess, wise-woman, queen." So begins Marion Zimmer Bradley's account of the Arthurian legend, which places unusual emphasis on the character of Morgaine, otherwise known as Morgan Le Fay. But who exactly is Morgan and how does she vary in the different accounts of the Arthurian legend? In order to assess how Morgan Le Fay is depicted
Morgan Le Fay is a powerful enchantress who often appears as a side character in many Arthurian Legends. Along with being a witch, Morgan also possesses many supernatural powers. Her main abilities are to shapeshift into animals and objects, and she is an expert in botany. She knows how to use plants to heal the sick and injured, but she can also use them to cause harm to others. The myth of Morgan Le Fay comes from Celtic origins, which explains why she is such a complicated character; Celtic culture
The Skystone and The Singing Sword Marion Zimmer Bradley, a book critic, says The Skystone is "one of the most interesting historical novels that I've ever read, and I've read plenty"(Front cover). In writing, success is generally a direct result of an author being able to keep a reader interested. Jack Whyte is an interesting and successful author throughout The Skystone and The Singing Sword because of his development of characters and his ability to write strategically. Character development
Postmodernism is a style of art that first became popular in the late 20th century. When seeing the word postmodernism, it might have to do with any one medium of art-- literature, philosophy, history, economics, architecture, fiction, and literary criticism. Lyotard, a founder of postmodernism in philosophy, is quoted as saying, “Simplifying to the extreme, I define the postmodern as incredulity toward metanarratives.” By saying this, Lyotard simply meant that, as a postmodernist, he was against
From late June to early August of 2013, I found myself taking yet another six-week crash course at Florida Atlantic University. The course in question was Creative Writing I. At the time, it seemed like a serious gamble. My experience as a writer had come through doing ‘academic’ writing, and, to say the least, I never considered myself someone with a creative mind. I didn’t know where to begin, and it felt as if I’d ensnared myself in another trap. Later on, a spark got ignited in my brain leading
Arthur's Unrealism: Monty Python, Gawain and the Green Knight, and the Destruction of Ideals It may be that ideals are necessary for humanity. Without idealized images, codes of behavior, even idealized objects, mankind would have difficulty functioning. There would be a lack of context or criteria with which to judge objects that may be termed less than ideal. However, the problem with idealized images is that they can never be described fully, and certainly never attained. An example is the