"La Belle Dame Sans Merci" by Sir Frank Dicksee

Arthurian Literature & Art

Part I: Celtic/Medieval

Part II: Victorian/Modern

Part II Victorian/Modern Index

• Poems and Paintings: Victorian
• 19th-20th Century Arthurian Legend
• Recent Pop Culture, Literature, and Film

Poems and Paintings: Romantic/Victorian

"The Arming and Departure of the Knights of the Round Table on the Quest for the Holy Grail,"

designed by Edward Burne-Jones. Also called "The Quest for the Holy Grail."

General

• Gothic Art for the Industrial Age: The Middle Ages Revisited in the Art of the Pre-Raphaelites--good survey of the medieval revival in Victorian art and culture (speech by the curator of Medieval Art for the Cleveland Museum of Art).

La Belle Dame Sans Merci (Keats)

              

       La Belle Dame sans Merci        La Belle Dame sans Merci       La Belle Dame sans Merci        La Belle Dame sans Merci

      by Frank Dicksee                     by J. W. Waterhouse                  by Walter Crane                       by Arthur Hughes

• La Belle Dame sans Merci (UToronto)--e-text, 1820 version.
• John Keats Overview (Landow site)--links to biography, e-texts, social history, imagery, themes, etc.

• La Belle Dame sans Merci --very helpful study guide for Keats' poem.
• La Belle Dame: Analysis and Themes --good study aid.
  
  
• Keats' "La Belle Dame sans Merci: A Ballad" --good discussion of La Belle as Lilith; Feminism and Women's Studies site.
• Gendered Romanticism: Keats' La Belle Dame--excerpt from a scholarly study.
• Dream Lovers and Tragic Romance: Negative Fictions in Keats's Lamia, The Eve of St. Agnes, and Isabella--scholarly article on the failure of Keats' idealized romances; includes discussion of La Belle Dame sans Merci.

The Lady of Shalott (Tennyson)

              

  'I am half sick of shadows'          The Lady of Shalott                    'I am half-sick of shadows'           The Lady of Shalott    

   by J. W. Waterhouse               by Elizabeth Siddal                         by Sidney Meteyard               by J. W. Waterhouse

• The Lady of Shalott--e-text of 1832 version.
• The Lady of Shalott--e-text of 1842 version.
• The Lady of Shalott--e-text, plus illustrations by Howard Pyle.
  
  
• Tennyson Overview (Landow's Victorian Web)--many links to Tennyson's biography, works, political/social history, themes, imagery, etc.
• Tennyson's 'Lady of Shalott": Overview (Landow's Victorian Web)--many links related to "The Lady of Shalott."
  
  

• "Who Is This? And What Is This Here?" The Evolution of Tennyson's Lady of Shalott And Her Presence in the Artistic Imagination --long, detailed study of Tennyson's Lady, compared to Malory's depiction of women and Tennyson's in Idylls; pre-Raphaelite paintings also covered.
• The Embowered Woman: Pictorial Interpretations of "The Lady of Shalott" --excerpt from a scholarly study on the Shalott paintings.
• Pictorial Interpretations of "The Lady of Shalott": The Lady in her Boat --excerpt from a scholarly study on the Shalott paintings.
• Replete with Meaning: William Holman Hunt and Typological Symbolism --excerpt from a scholarly study on Hunt's Shalott painting.
• A Backward Journey through the "Lady of Shalott": John William Waterhouse --excerpt from a scholarly study on Waterhouse's Shalott painting.

                

The Lady of Shalott                              The Lady of Shalott                                        The Lady of Shalott    

  by J. W. Waterhouse                              by John Grimshaw                                           by Arthur Hughes       

• The Lady of Shalott: Pre-Raphaelite Attitudes Toward Woman in Society --good student paper on View of women in Tennyson's Shalott and in paintings on the same theme.
• Lady of Shalott--Feminist or Victim? --a number of images with provocative commentary/questions about the conflicting ideologies/discourses embodied in the Shalott image.
• Elaine of Astolet/Lady of Shalott Page --illustrations of the Elaine/Shalott theme.

The Lady of Shalott by G.E. Robertson

Idyll's of the King (Tennyson)

• The Idylls of the King--e-text.

• Dedication to The Idylls of the King
• "The Coming of Arthur"
• "Gareth and Lynette"
• "The Marriage of Geraint"
• "Geraint and Enid"
• "Balin and Balan"
• "Merlin and Vivien"
• "Lancelot and Elaine"
• "The Holy Grail"
• "Pelleas and Ettarre"
• "The Last Tournament"
• "Guinevere"
• "The Passing of Arthur"
• "Epilogue--To the Queen"

• Galahad--many links to Galahad illustrations.
• Sir Galahad: A Call to the Heroic --interpretation from 1915 arguing Galahad as the ideal role model for young men.
• Arthurian Legends Illustrated --many 19th Century paintings "tell" the story of King Arthur and his knights. See in particular Sections 4 and 5 on the Grail quests.
• Elaine of Astolet/Lady of Shalott --additional literature and illustrations on the Elaine theme.
• Fortescue-Brickdale, Eleanor --biography and 20 illustrations of the 1911 edition of Idylls.
• Harrison, Florence --5 illustrations of Idylls.
• Gustave Dore Illustrations --biography and 40 illustrations of Idylls.
• Cameron, Julia Margaret --biography and 12 photo-illustrations of Idylls.
• Knights and Camelot --a gallery of famous 19th Century paintings on Arthurian themes.

                

   Chivalry                                      Guinevere's A-Maying                            Morgan le Fay

           by Frank Dicksee                                  by John Collier                                by Frederick Sandys       

• Alfred Lord Tennyson--compositional history of "Idylls."
• Idylls of the King Overview (Landow's Victorian Web)--many links to Tennyson's biography, historical/social background and related topics. See, in particular, "Characterization," "Themes," and "Setting."
• Arthur's Apocalypse: Desolation and Isolation in a Camelot without its Christ --good student essay.
• Idylls of the King, Alfred, Lord Tennyson: Introduction --short explanation of the allegory in Idylls and the poems overall strengths and weaknesses.
• The Tennysons. Idylls of the King --short older but insightful overview of the strengths and weaknesses of this poem.
  
  
• The Once and Future Sword: Excalibur and the Poetics of Imperial Heroism in Idylls of the King --scholarly article.
• Edward III's Round Table and Dartmouth College's Casque and Gauntlet: Two Returns of King Arthur--scholarly paper on the uses of the Arthur myth as a model for the formation of boys groups based on it in the 14th and the 19th centuries.
• The Contemporaneity of "The Last Tournament" --scholarly article.
• Getting it wrong in "The Lady of Shalott"-- scholarly article.
• Dionysian Music, Patriotic Sentiment, and Tennyson's Idylls of the King --scholarly article.
• "What profits me my name?" The Aesthetic Potential of the Commodified Name in "Lancelot and Elaine" --scholarly article.
• "Charades from the Middle Ages"? Tennyson's Idylls of the King and the Chivalric Code --scholarly article.

               

The Beguiling of Merlin                    Lancelot fights Mador                           The Last Sleep of Arthur     

  by Edward Burne-Jones                          by N. C. Wyeth                                by Edward Burne-Jones       

The Defence of Guenevere (William Morris)

• The Defence of Guenevere--e-text.
  
  
• William Morris Overview (Landow's Victorian Web)--many links to Morris's biography, works, political/social history, themes, imagery, etc.
• The Defence of Guenevere and Other Poems--Preface and Critical Introduction to this volume of poetry.
• Justice and Vindication in William Morris's The Defence of Guenevere--scholarly article.
• The Style of Evasion: William Morris's Defence of Guenevere, and Other Poems--scholarly article.
• The Tristan stained glass for Harden Grange --produced by Morris and Co.

19th-20th Century Arthurian Legend

Tristan and Isolde (Wagner/Bédier/Cocteau)

             

Tristan and La Belle Isoude              Tristan and Isolde                  Tristan and Isolde             The Death of Tristram      

by D. G. Rossetti                    by Edmund Leighton              by J. W. Waterhouse             by Marianne Stokes    

• The Other Early Arthurian Cycle: The Tale of Tristan and Isolt --good background on the origins and developments of the Tristan stories.
• Tristan and Isolt (The Camelot Project)--background and many links to e-texts and images.
  
  
• Grand Opera Librettos: Tristan and Isolde --e-text of Wagner's libretto.

• The History of 'Tristan and Isolde' --background on the creation and production troubles of Wagner's "Tristan."
• Tristan and Isolde --set design for one production of Wagner's opera.
• Richard Wagner --a more detailed biography, including his controversal beliefs and the "nazi connection."
• Wagner, Hitler and Anti-Semitism --more on the infamous "nazi connection."
• Parsifal--one of the most elaborate websites I've ever seen--many, many links to almost anything you may want to know about this operatic masterpiece and its composer. Highly recommended.
  
  

• The Romance Of Tristan And Iseult, by M. Joseph Bédier (Project Gutenberg)--e-text of Bédier's complete book.
• Tristan and Isolde Legend --good introduction.
• Tristan and Iseult--good summary of historical development of the Tristram-Isolde legends and the many different versions.
• Tristan As the Ideal Chivalric Knight --student paper.
• Key Archetypes in the Celtic Myth of Tristan and Isolde: A Brief Introduction --archetypal study.
  
  
• Jean Cocteau--biography.
• L'Eternael Retour--movie review.
• User comments for L'Éternel Retour--helpful comments on Cocteau's movie.
• The film satisfied my aesthetic senses --short movie review.

The Wasteland (T. S. Eliot)

Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali

• T. S. Eliot's Life and Career--biography
• The Wasteland--e-text, annotated.
• The Annotated Wasteland----in frames, with allusions explained in the right column
• Tradition and the Individual Talent --Eliot's defining essay explaining his approach to poetry.
  
  
• The Wasteland--detailed analysis of 'The Wasteland' as the definitive "modernist" poem.
• The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock --Don't be fooled by the title; scroll down near the bottom of the page for a very helpful and detailed reading of The Wasteland and then go the the second page of the discussion by clicking on "Next Page" link.
• Lecture on T. S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and "The Waste Land" --excellent background lecture.
• “The Human Engine Waits”: The Role of Technology in T.S. Eliot’s "The Waste Land" --critical essay.

• An Introduction to From Ritual to Romance --helpful introduction to Jessie Weston's classic (see next listing).
• From Ritual to Romance --Jessie Weston's classic study of pagan myths/rituals from which Arthurian legends derive. Recommended chapters:

• Chapt.II The Task of the Hero
• Chapt.VI The Symbols
• Chapt.IX The Fisher King
• Chapt. XIII The Chapel Perilous

• On The Wasteland --generous excerpts from a number of scholarly studies analyzing different aspects of the poem. Highly recommended..
• Disciplining 'The Waste Land', or how to lead critics into temptation --scholarly article.

Recent Pop Culture, Literature, and Films

       

Note: Bradley cover artist: Braldt Bralds

General

• List_of_works_based_on_Arthurian_legends--all genres.

Modern Fiction

• A Handlist of Arthurian Science Fiction and Fantasy 1980-89 --Doherty's essay,includes brief survey of 1938-1979, plus discussions of Bradley, Stewart, Godwin, and other modern treatments of the Arthurian material and the "High Fantasies of Lawhead and Kay."
• The High Fantasies of Lawhead and Kay --reprint of the last section of Doherty's above essay.
• King Arthur in the Arts-- brief assessments of several contemporary Arthurian novels.
  
  
• Women of the Arthurian Legend--lists of women artists/illustrators; women authors/translators; and women characters.
• Interview with Mary Stewart --author comments on her Merlin novels.
• Author Information: Marion Zimmer Bradley --short biography.
• Thoughts on Avalon --Bradley's interesting discussion of the goddess/god, pagan/Christian, and women/men conflicts in her Avalon novels.
• The Avalon Series --reviews of Bradley's three "Avalon" books, listed in the order written (Lady of Avalon last).
• The Mists of Avalon --good introduction to the novel.
• Re-reading feminist author Marion Zimmer Bradley in the wake of sexual assault allegations --Washington Post re-assessment of Bradley's fiction in light of the shocking charges.
• On Chrétien de Troyes's Erec and Enide, The Knight of the Cart (Lancelot), and Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon --sample essay.
  
  
• Barthelme Weaves King Arthur Into World War II --review of Barthelme's The King.

Movies

• List of films based on Arthurian legend --comprehensive list, with links.
• Arthurian Film-- an extensive list of films, accompanied by brief descriptive/evaluative comments.
• Medieval History in the films--full listing and evaluation.
• Swashbucklers at the Round Table--mostly 1950s films.
  
  
• Monty Python's Completely Useless Web Site --site devoted to Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974).
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail --review and background.
• Medieval Masculinities--comparisons of the treatments of masculinity in Malory’s Morte D’Arthur, First Knight (film), and Monty Python and the Holy Grail (film).
• Excalibur--film review.
• First Knight --a Roger Ebert review.
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade --a Roger Ebert review.
• The Fisher King --a thorough survey of the role of the Fisher King in literature and art from medieval to modern times.
• The Fisher King--a Roger Ebert review.
• The Fisher King: A Review--a film review.
• Dreams: The Fisher King--a review.
• The Natural --summary and commentary on the Robert Redford film, with arthurian parallels noted.
• The Natural--film review by Roger Ebert.

Comic Books and Role-Playing Games

• Camelot In Four Colors: A Survey of the Arthurian Legend in Comics--interesting site.
• Camelot 3000 and Beyond: An Annotated Listing of Arthurian Comic Books Published in the United States c. 1980-1998 (Revised Edition, May 2000)--an extensive listing.

Short Stories

• Modern Arthurian Short Stories --more than you think!

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Updated: 1-14-17

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