Literature is often a product of its time, though some works can be said to be more indicative of the time period they came from than others. This thesis inspects Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur and Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon, not only as products of their time but also as works that illuminate the formation of gender identity within their respective time periods. Malory’s unique experience as an acting knight throughout the fifteenth century influenced his version of the existing legends of Arthur and his court injecting then-current chivalric ideals into the text. Bradley worked to write a text focusing on these very same masculine legends that responded to them with a feminine retelling which was influenced by the second wave of the feminist movement that Bradley lived through. Pulling from various medieval and feminist scholars, this thesis argues the validity and representation of both author’s works while explaining why Bradley’s revision was needed and how it unifies the past legends centered around Arthur with a more unified and equal future.
","abstract_html":"<p>Literature is often a product of its time, though some works can be said to be more indicative of the time period they came from than others. This thesis inspects Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur and Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon, not only as products of their time but also as works that illuminate the formation of gender identity within their respective time periods. Malory’s unique experience as an acting knight throughout the fifteenth century influenced his version of the existing legends of Arthur and his court injecting then-current chivalric ideals into the text. Bradley worked to write a text focusing on these very same masculine legends that responded to them with a feminine retelling which was influenced by the second wave of the feminist movement that Bradley lived through. Pulling from various medieval and feminist scholars, this thesis argues the validity and representation of both author’s works while explaining why Bradley’s revision was needed and how it unifies the past legends centered around Arthur with a more unified and equal future. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Pickle, Gary Andrew"],"institution":"Eastern Kentucky University","degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Master's","degree_discipline":"English and Theatre","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2019-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:53Z","subjects":["Arthur","Arthurian","Avalon","Camelot","Chivalry","Feminism","English Language and Literature"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright 2019 Gary Andrew Pickle"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/640","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Pickle, Gary Andrew"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English and Theatre"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Eastern Kentucky University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Arthur","Arthurian","Avalon","Camelot","Chivalry","Feminism","English Language and Literature"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2019 Gary Andrew Pickle"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/640"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Literature is often a product of its time, though some works can be said to be more indicative of the time period they came from than others. This thesis inspects Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur and Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon, not only as products of their time but also as works that illuminate the formation of gender identity within their respective time periods. Malory’s unique experience as an acting knight throughout the fifteenth century influenced his version of the existing legends of Arthur and his court injecting then-current chivalric ideals into the text. Bradley worked to write a text focusing on these very same masculine legends that responded to them with a feminine retelling which was influenced by the second wave of the feminist movement that Bradley lived through. Pulling from various medieval and feminist scholars, this thesis argues the validity and representation of both author’s works while explaining why Bradley’s revision was needed and how it unifies the past legends centered around Arthur with a more unified and equal future.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/PDF"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Chivalrous and Feminist King: How the Arthurian Legends Chronicled the Formation of Two Gender Identities"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Pickle, Gary Andrew"],"dc:description.abstract":["Literature is often a product of its time, though some works can be said to be more indicative of the time period they came from than others. This thesis inspects Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur and Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon, not only as products of their time but also as works that illuminate the formation of gender identity within their respective time periods. Malory’s unique experience as an acting knight throughout the fifteenth century influenced his version of the existing legends of Arthur and his court injecting then-current chivalric ideals into the text. Bradley worked to write a text focusing on these very same masculine legends that responded to them with a feminine retelling which was influenced by the second wave of the feminist movement that Bradley lived through. Pulling from various medieval and feminist scholars, this thesis argues the validity and representation of both author’s works while explaining why Bradley’s revision was needed and how it unifies the past legends centered around Arthur with a more unified and equal future.
"],"dc:format":["application/PDF"],"dc:identifier":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/640"],"dc:publisher":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2019 Gary Andrew Pickle"],"dc:source":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"],"dc:subject":["Arthur","Arthurian","Avalon","Camelot","Chivalry","Feminism","English Language and Literature"],"dc:title":["The Chivalrous and Feminist King: How the Arthurian Legends Chronicled the Formation of Two Gender Identities"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English and Theatre"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"],"thesis:institution_name":["Eastern Kentucky University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:53Z"}