This paper examines the role of feminism in Marion Zimmer Bradley's book, as well as addressing thematic elements and symbolism. This five page paper has two sources listed in the bibliography.
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from the original Arthurian legend, but Ms. Bradley contends that the story she wrote was probably more truer to actual circumstances than the tales woven by Sir Thomas Malory or
others. In fact, what they may find most hard to stomach in her version is that the women are not damsels in distress, nor are they simply property. In Marion
Zimmer Bradleys novel, not only are the women strong, but in the course of events as they play out, the women orchestrated everything, from Arthurs conception to his rule.
The stories of Arthur have been attributed to the work of a Frenchman by the name of Chretien de Troyes who managed to romanticize the legends. Through his works the
reader was introduced to a world where men and women had distinctly defined roles. Almost all the heroes were bigger than life and all were motivated by some force greater
than themselves. This is part of the magic, to be sure, but more directly, there is also the lure of the mystical which lures many to read the tales of
King Arthur time and again. In Malorys classic epic, Merlin is the only one wielding the good magic while the women in the story are either wives, wenches or witches.
Marion Zimmer Bradley viewed the legend with a historians eye. The time period of King Arthur supposedly took place at the time when the Christian movement was beginning to gain
headway in England. Most of the rural areas were still pagan believing in the Old Ways and traditions which involved nature worship and the worship of Gods and Goddesses. Some
versions mention that for this very reason King Arthur was the only one who could have united all of England because he was the embodiment of the old and new