Thursday, April 9, 2020
Arthur thinks about stuff
In Once and Future King (Candle in the Wind), there are a few points in the final chapter that spoke to me in particular in terms of Arthur's character growth. Within the chapter, there are a few points in which Arthur starts to really reflect on everything that has happened. Arthur says things such as "Why do men fight?" (630). On top of this, he also speaks about "What Distinguished between Doing and Not Doing" (631). I find these types of character arcs to be some of the most interesting ideas that have been explored. Instead of being conventional and allowing Arthur to solve everything with his sword, it has to be expected that there are some problems he should or should not solve. Another line that stuck out to me was "Perhaps war was due to fear; to fear of reliability...there was always danger from everything outside of the individual." (633). I think that Arthur's contemplation of war is an interesting facet of his character within the confines of this story. Regardless, this whole chapter held my interest the most as a result of the direction it was taken in. I think that giving Arthur the time to contemplate war is a cool and different direction for a character that is typically all about war.
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Yes I agree, this character development is what made this story stand out to me. That makes me wonder, do modern audiences crave character development more than the audiences at the time of the original texts? I'm assuming so , but why?? you would think people would want that throughout history.
ReplyDeletereading your comment reminded me of the day in class (I think when we were talking about the knight in the cart) that Dr. MB was discussing why people back then liked these stories, and while we appreciate the character development and growth through the stories, they more just wanted some entertainment and something fantastical to hear. This is mostly just guess work but I think, based off of Dr. MBs comments that day that they just wanted a story that showed True Love overcoming Reason and amazing battles for their homeland.
DeleteI think that the people who were reading King Arthur stories way back when did not care so much for character development since they wanted to hear inspiring power fantasy stories instead. This is not necessarily exclusive to Arthur stories since modern stories struggle with this as well. Its more difficult to give layers of complexity rather than just presenting stories about a badass that saves people.
DeleteI agree with what Abbey said because I was thinking the same thing. Why would they think that more people care about the development of the character. The only thing reason that I can think of is because it makes the reader more invested in the character.
DeleteNot only is it a significant character arc, it reminded me of the questions Merlin asked young Arthur. These contemplations later in life show that Arthur continued to think about Merlin's advice even after Merlin was no longer around. Therefore, Merlin was an effective teacher and Arthur learned a lot.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I feel the same. I think what stood out to me was just how out of left field it was for me. I always thought before that Arthur stories could only be melodramatic drivel that is hard to read, but this among other things really stood out to me. Its genuine character development that lives up to modern standards in a lot of ways.
DeleteHenry - I'm with you. This chapter gets me every time. It's beautiful and philosophical and sad and hopeful all at once. (Also, I used to have a "war is not healthy..." patch on my backpack throughout high school!)
ReplyDeleteCharacter development in the way that we see it in this novel, is definitely a more "modern" taste. It's hard to explain why this is so without a massive talk about the development of the modern novel (alongside the way that we have come to think about our society in terms of individual rights and freedoms). Medieval audiences wouldn't necessarily expect to "relate" to a character the way most of us do today. They would want to see a character as a representation of something - an idea, a quality, a virtue, or a vice - that they could internalize, learn from, test out, and consider alongside their own lives. But they wouldn't necessarily need or want to see "realistic" aspects of a character in order for that to happen. One way to think about this is that they would want the character that is developed to be themselves, rather than a fictional person whose life is fixed on the page. Neither approach to fiction and character is inherently better - they are just DIFFERENT, from different cultures and different ways of living. The past, as it is so often said, is a foreign country.
I agree 100% here Henry, these questions Arthur has really add to his "I can do anything I want because of my sword" attitude. Also, Esther is right, the way Merlin taught Arthur at a young age was able to stay with him throughout his entire life. That's great guidance and mentoring by his old teacher.
ReplyDeleteYeah, absolutely. I really love that it really shows Merlin's influence. I feel as though if Arthur was King and Merlin had not been in his life, then Arthur would have been a much darker and ruthless person. It reminds me a lot of Avater: The Last Airbender and the Zuko/Iroh relationship in the sense that people are not inherently bad, rather, people are brought up through a few instances and can be redeemed in the long run.
DeleteI think it shows Arthur finally understanding Merlins whole Might vs. Right lesson. I think he's finally really understanding how his actions effect other people and how he's responsible for the lives of countless people, he needs to set them up to have a good future, even after he dies.
ReplyDeleteI also wrote about this chapter and I totally agree with this. I think that readers are finally seeing Arthur from a different perspective and how he thinks about war not just how he acts towards war.
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