Guinevere's Politics in Malory's Morte Darthur

Kenneth Hodges, Keene State College

Although Sir Thomas Malory says that Queen Guinevere "was a trew lover, and therefor she had a good ende, " many critics have found her "jealous, unreasonable, possessive, and headstrong. " The critics' hostility is founded on reading Guinevere's actions at the end of Le Morte Darthur romantically instead of politically. She is, however, embroiled in the rivalries surrounding Launcelot's affinity, and a number of her actions that readers often attribute to jealousy may instead be prompted by politics. After the Grail quest, Launcelot and Guinevere become increasingly aware that they are supported not by the whole country but only by Launcelot's affinity, and they do their best to avoid being tied only to that one affinity. Guinevere's actions, particularly in "The Poisoned Apple, " show her struggling to hold together the unity of the Round Table, threatened by the rivalries among the affinities.