For Tuesday: T.H. White, The Sword in the Stone, Chs. 1-7 (pp.10-72)
NOTE: As I will
discuss on Tuesday, The Sword in the
Stone was originally a stand-alone book that became part of a larger series
of books which were eventually called The
Once and Future King. However, the
final book was refused by the publisher, so White never felt that it was a
complete work, which justifies us just reading the first installment. Also, the
first book was actually re-written years after its publication, with parts of
the final, fifth book, The Book of Merlyn,
inserted bodily into the manuscript (since his publishers refused to release
it). So the work we read today comes
from both ends of the Once and Future
King series.
Answer 2 of the 4
questions that follow:
1. While discussing The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, I suggested that one of the
hallmarks of fantasy literature is anachronism, which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as, “Anything done or existing
out of date; hence, anything which was proper to a former age, but is,
or, if it existed, would be, out of harmony with the present; also called a practical anachronism.” How does White consciously employ anachronism
in his story, both in the narration and in the events of the story itself? Why is this a useful technique in a fantasy
novel?
2. How is White
satirizing traditional romantic notions of knighthood in The Sword in the Stone? What
experiences/quests does Wart expect to undergo in his education, and how might
characters such as Sir Pellinore poke fun at this notions? In other words, what does White think
knighthood and heroism is truly all about in the Medieval world of legend?
3. In her biography of T.H. White, Sylvia Warner notes that “The
Sword in the Stone has the impetus and recklessness of a beginner’s
work. It is full of poetry, farce,
invention, iconoclasm, and, above all, the reverence due to youth in its
portrayal of the young Arthur” (xii).
Why do you think White wrote a book about the myths of Arthur, Merlyn,
and Camelot from a young boy’s perspective?
Why does he have such “reverence” to youth, and why might we not get the
same story if told from an adult Arthur?
4. Based on our reading so far, what kind of education do you feel
Merlyn is trying to give Wart? Why is he
transforming him into fish and having him consort with eccentric knights? How does this contrast with what Wart wants
to learn and thinks he ought to learn?
[you might also consider that Merlyn lives backwards, so he knows the
tragic fate of Camelot...is he trying to teach Wart, in some way, to reverse
this?]
Ashley Bean
ReplyDelete2. This entire section of the book made me, literally, laugh out loud. Everything that happened was so ridiculous! White is definitely satirizing, and especially the knights. The entire jousting scene, which Wart and myself, expected to be grand, was a joke. I expected a Game of Thrones like fight, and was given knights who argue over what the other one said and then fall over. It's kind of like "The Canterbury Tales," where the Knight is trying to teach his son that knighthood and chivalry are ridiculous. I feel that Merlin, and in turn White, is making a joke out of the serious knight archetype. It also made it feel more believable in a sense, since who really could fight and walk in armor that heavy? I think one of the most important things about this situation is that Pellinore has spent most of his life chasing one beast, and he never gets any closer. I think that's what White is trying to say, they claim these great acts of heroism, yet never really do anything.
4. I tie this to my previous answer. Merlin doesn't want Wart, or Arthur, to be like any other knight. He seems to laugh at Kay and how Wart is jealous of him. Merlin is trying to give him perspective. There isn't just one way of seeing things, like he has been told. There is more to growing up than archery and jousting. He's trying to show him that he doesn't need to be like everyone else. And yes, maybe he is trying to teach Wart to reverse the fate of Camelot, because apparently no one else can do anything about it.
Great responses: White is anxious to take the myth out of this legendary tale, so we can see to the heart of the "war mania" that drives kings and their kingdoms. White saw that Hitler was obsessed by the same myths as Wart (indeed, Hitler saw himself as a Teutonic Knight straight out of a Wagner opera--he believed too much in symbols, to mankind's doom!). Wart believes that might makes right, and that fighting is a noble idea; Merlyn has seen too much of the world (literally) to believe such outdated notions.
Delete2. When Wart is left in the woods by himself, that's the first act of "knightliness". In most stories, knights go on journeys where they acquire knowledge from someone higher up than them, and I think White turns this into a little joke as soon as the reader is introduced to both King Pellinore and Merlyn. For example, Pellinore is as dumb as a doorknob! But yet, Wart admires his knightly appearance and everything about him. The whole scene is hilarious because Wart is mesmerized by everything Pellinore does, just like he is when Merlyn is teaching him how to be chivalrous. White is making a serious joke out of what it means to be a knight in medevial times.
ReplyDelete3. By telling these stories form a young boys point of view, it keeps the youth plastered in the back of the readers mind. By keeping it innocent, kind of like how "Cristabel" was told from the perspective of an innnocent girl, it allows the reader to be more understanding toward childish games and ideas. For example, during the jousting scene, the whole act is childish and absolutely hilarious to the readers, but if this was from an older gentlemen, the reader might not take it so lightly. One would think the guy was incompetent or just trying too hard t be funny. By keeping it funny and innocent, it's free and allows for many interpretations.
Bria Gambrell
Great responses--by focusing on a child, we see how a young mind learns to distinguish between the world of games and the world of war. Do adults ever stop "playing", or do their games merely become more destructive and wider in scope? It reminds me of a quote by Neil Gaiman, another fantasy writer: ""As for Grown-ups...Outside, they’re big and thoughtless and they always know what they’re doing. Inside, they look just like they always have. Like they did when they were your age. The truth is, there aren’t any grown-ups. Not one, in the whole wide world” (The Ocean At the End of the Lane)
Delete1. In this novel, we often hear White say something like, "that is what is called then, but it is called this now." For example, the drink that the two men where sharing at the very beginning of the book. White even tells us that he is calling it by the name that people would no now rather than what it was called then. He continuously uses references like this throughout the narrative. I think that this is useful in fantasy because it emphasizes the fact that these events and things are different. We can look at them in a modern, normal way, or look at them as completely different, like they were meant to be. It continuously reminds the reader that this is fantasy.
ReplyDelete3. I think that telling this narrative from a young boy's point of view almost keeps things simple. It also keeps them rather innocent. For example, if this story was told from the adult Arthur's point of view. Things might seem a little more complicated, since adults seem to complicate things a great deal more. For example, and adult Arthur might not have readily accepted Merlyn upon meeting him in the woods. He might would have been more scared of the magic around him or even more disbelieving about it, just as Sir Ector upon initially meeting Merlyn tries to explain away every magic trick. A young Arthur, however, is awed and inspired by it. It is also quite a different thing to hear this story from a young boy's perspective.
Cora-lee Snow
Great responses--we identify with Wart because he's learning about this world just as we are; we're both strangers, so to speak. An adult would know everything and more importantly, would not know how to "unlearn" it. Wart is still impressionable and can be taught a different narrative of life, whereas the adults in his life are stuck chasing Questling Beasts or tilting at jousts.
DeleteRocky Moore
ReplyDelete2. I believe White is poking fun of the traditional notion during the time that knighthood and heroism comes from having a noble background and being a physically daunting and intimidating man, whereas 'Wart' is the complete opposite. I thought it was hilarious that Sir Pellinore was on this goofy quest for some beast that it seems he will never find and is going about his quest in full amour but is lacking intelligence or even a higher purpose, which is what Merlyn is trying to establish within the young boy. I think White is simply saying that true knighthood comes from something much deeper than the traditional ideals of the knights that Pellinore resembles. True knighthood comes from humble beginnings where characteristics of intelligence, patience and courage all meet in one.
4. I think the answer to number 2 relates to the type of education Merlyn is trying to give Wart as well as some of the questions asked in the 3rd question. Merlyn knows about things that aren't even in existence yet like the rack of guns and weapons inside his cottage, so it is apparent that his education is built upon vast knowledge of things even people who consider themselves experts at the time have no idea about. Before Merlyn, Wart thought that the way things were done before were how they ought to be, like jousting and shooting arrows and all of this athletic prowess whereas Merlyn knows that barely scratches the surface for the young boys development. I think Merlyn wants Wart to be in odd circumstances like that of being a fish so that he can see the world from a different perspective that in the end can lead to happy ending compared to a dark one that Merlyn has seen before.
As a sidenote, I have been watching the cartoon 'Sword in the Stone' by Disney and the two have definitely enhanced my experience with the book.
Glad you're watching the Disney version, which is obviously much tamer than the novel: what major differences/changes have you noticed? This would make an interesting discussion in class--I'll try to remember and/or bring a clip on Thursday. Great responses, too; to see that the world has more possibilities than knighthood or the values of knighthood, Wart has to start at the bottom of many possible worlds--and also, to stop thinking of humans as the center of the universe. A true "Once and Future King" would have to think not just as a knight or a man, but as a representative of all living things, since we're all bound to the same cycle (as our own time is learning much too late!).
Delete3. I think White chose to write such a whimsical story for the sole fact of it being fun. Also, everything sounds better from a child's perspective. People don't sound as mean, stories are funnier, etc. Reading an entire book from the position of a youth is more interesting (to me personally), but that may just be the way my brain works. It's easier to process, easier to fall in love with the characters, etc. Had this story been told from an "adult Arthur," it would lose a lot of its meaning. Like I said, adults have a way of complicating things into making them less fun and/or interesting. I absolutely know for a fact that I would not be near as into this story had it been told from someone other than through the eyes of a younger kid. Being childish always has it's perks.
ReplyDelete4. I'm on the fence with this one. I'm interested in the story, but I don't know that I fully understand what's going on in this aspect. Merlin doesn't want him to be like any other knight, but I'm in a confusion about this book thus far. Oh well. I'll catch on before too long.
Good ideas, but try to push yourself a bit more, esp, on #4. Think through the questions rather than stopping at a promising but vague idea. Why might a child learn better than an adult? Why might a child have a better chance to be a king than an adult who already has hard and fast ideas about kingship and knighthood? Try to think through the questions, since the more you think now, the more you'll have to say in class and the more you can develop these ideas on papers.
Delete3. I agree with everyone else above about why this story was told from this point of view. I believe because this story wouldn't have the same effect if it were told by someone older and we may disregard some of the things that are happening if they were to be told by an older narrator. I think it being told from a youth perspective, it helps us understand what is happening instead of discrediting something and saying that it is completely silly. If it were being told from an adult perspective, I feel like I may just brushed it off, and thought of it as completely childish, which is what it is supposed to be. I hope you get my point and i'm not completely rambling.
ReplyDelete4. I believe Merlyn is teaching him about the different things of the world, he is letting him experience things at the lowest level and then he is letting him experience them as he would as the most complex and great knight. I think it is Merlyn's way of letting Wart see things from every perspective and helping him to see that he can be great in anyway that he wants to be.
Good responses--an adult is already too emeshed in his class/system to be truly educated about his or her world. Only a child is innocent enough to learn without bias, since everything is a possibility for him or her. To train Wart as an adult would be pointless, since he would already be the "once and future king." Merlyn has to go back much farther if he truly hopes to make a great king, one who can see beyond the boundaries of his world.
Delete4. Since Merlyn knows how Wart is going to turn out, I think he’s trying to ensure that Wart will become the good King that he know he can and will be. It’s inevitable that Wart will learn jousting, and Wart is expecting to learn subjects like math and science yet Wart seems to have a natural aptitude for these things and Merlyn wants him to focus beyond them. With their adventure into the moat, Merlyn’s main objective seems to be for them to meet the King of the Moat, Mr. P (or he who must not be named), and Wart after noting the immense size of the creature, spends a great deal of time describing his face as “ravaged by all the passions of an absolute monarch- by cruelty, sorrow, age, pride” (51) etc. Wart also notices his “ironic mouth,” fearful eyes, and draws conclusions about his character too. After their very short conversation, the King of the Moat tries to eat Wart the fish. Wart gets to see the effects and behaviors of an absolute monarch, and how such a person apparently treats his underlings. Mr. P is the big fish in the moat, and he behaves like it. Also, Wart as a human that feeds on the fish in the moat, gets to see the perspective of someone with an even more lowly position than his as an orphan. Oh, and I like that at the beginning of this expedition when Merlyn says “But direction is the better part of valour” (47) which made me laugh out loud.
ReplyDelete2. It is funny that all of the authority figures we’ve been exposed to so far are really goofy. Sir Ector isn’t very well educated, and Sir Grummore Grummursum spends all of his time questing and not much else besides boasting of said quests. But it’s King Pellinore that really takes home the hat. He’s been questing for the Basilant Beast for almost the last 20 years or so, but he is yet to catch it because he’s so awkward and his hound kinda sucks. Wart comes upon him as this great image in armor before he proves himself to be a bumbling fool with his dog attached to a long leash which is wrapped around a tree. Better yet, whenever he meets up with Wart, Merlyn, and Sir Grummursum to joust, Merlyn keeps saying “Hail” to King Pellinore who says it in return then they shake hands, and this happens several times over a short space with King Pellinore fretting about the weather each time. Among other things, this is an example of a man who instead of leading his kingdom gets caught up in the romance of being a knight or questing. Wart shares these ideas too because he is anxious to say he went on a quest for a new tutor whenever he comes back with Merlyn from the woods.
Great responses--the laughter of the book is double-edged, since it's farcical, but also representative of real modern-day values, particularly those of the privileged classes. The idea of being a noble knight and embodying a code sounds wonderful, but the reality is much different and far less noble. Wart can't see that as a knight; he has to be removed from his class and his species to see the connections that Merlyn, alone, can see from his time-traveling.
DeleteMary Dixon
ReplyDelete2. White satirizes the traditional romantic notions of knighthood by making the knights and their actions completely ridiculous. The scene where this is really emphasized is the jousting scene. Wart really wants to see a true joust between two nights and is ridiculed by Merlyn who believes that jousting and war games are stupid and unnecessary. The knights are not dashing and noble. They are bumbling fools. This image is a strong contrast to the romantic knight image typically thought of for this time period. Sir Pellinore is as unknightly as a person can possibly get. He wears spectacles under his helmet, is very clumsy, and hasn’t been able to finish his quest. Knights play war games that are rehearsed and ultimately meaningless. Their title gives them credit and fame, but they never have to earn it. They play war games and sit around and drink with other knights. It is all a farce and make believe appearances.
4. I think Merlyn is trying to have Wart unlearn everything that has been taught to him. He shows him how knights are bumbling idiots instead of gallant heroes. Wart places knights and future knights on a pedestal that her hero worships. This mind set is not ideal for a future king that Merlyn is trying to educate. Also by transforming Wart into different animals he gains different perspectives. Merlyn puts Wart in these situations to teach him what will really be important. Instead of focusing on war games and stupid displays of power and prestige Wart will be learning how to rule a country in peaceful times with no longing for war.
Great responses: it's also important that he transforms Wart into animals, since the basis of knighthood and the modern-day "gentleman" of England is hunting: they destroy animals for sport as well as each other. Wart wants to engage in the same sports, so he needs to see the connection between man and animal, and to see the foolishness of man AS an animal. The Geese show him this quite well--ironic, since the Geese are the most hunted of all the animals he visits.
ReplyDelete