Dreams in Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur
A knight is characteristically a man of war who stands for strength, chivalry, and courtly grace. As one of the elite members in society during the Middle Ages, the knight was seen as a perfect ideal. However, the dreams in Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur, particularly the dream-heavy sixth section, exposes a disjointed view of knighthood by revealing the darker nature of the Arthurian knights. Malory allows the reader, through the use of dreams, to view the corruption and moral failure of earthly knighthood, and these characteristics are the ultimate cause of the destruction of the Round Table. Through the interpretation of these dreams, many of the realities that hide just below the surface of the society are revealed. Peter Brown declares:
"For, unlike other, less potent, indicators of transition, the dream enabled writers to explore the roots both of the self and of society. In some measure, the literary dream is the meeting-place of both, being at once intensely private and expansively public, providing a means whereby the outer world can be read through the inner (44)."
This statement is an accurate description of the work because the dreams are an indicator as to what is wrong with the society as a whole; however, there is another level to this. Malory has various characters, such as hermits and priests, interpret the dreams, but the scope of the interpretation is limited. The characters themselves are not allowed to perceive the true nature of the society that is hidden beneath a façade of courtly mannerisms. Malory offers cues and indicators for the reader to see that the interpretation is incomplete, and must be finished by the reader in order to get the entire breadth of the work.
Image on this page: Sir Frank Dicksee, "The Two Crowns" (1900)
Read more:
Dreams in Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur
Heavenly Knights
Earthly Knight: King Arthur
Earthly Knight: Sir Lancelot
Earthly Knight: Sir Gawain & Sir Ector
Medieval Dream Theory and Society
Dreams vs. Visions
Conclusions
Further Reading
Author Bio