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Adaptation Theory
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Arthurian Literature
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British Literature
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Film Studies
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History
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Le Morte Darthur
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The Middle Ages
A Module in Le Morte Darthur
• Non-Sequential Series
Discussion-based
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Medium intensity
To achieve the Holy Grail, Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad and others must face formidable Black Knights, alluring temptresses, inscrutable hermits, and untold supernatural perils. This module examines two works created five-hundred-and-five years apart: “The Tale of the Sankgreal,” in Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur (1470) and Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975). The former represents the culmination of three centuries of medieval Arthurian “Grail” literature. The latter—a triumph of twentieth-century absurdist comedy and one of the funniest movies of all time. But these contrasting visions of the Grail Quest also share striking and unexpected similarities in terms of plot, form, and tone. This course looks closely at Malory’s text and the Pythons’ oddly-faithful film reinterpretation, side by side. In so doing, we explore what Arthur, the Grail, and the Middle Ages meant to the original audiences of both works, what they mean to us today, and how changes in form and context radically shape how stories are told and understood.
Required Texts
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail (dir. Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, 1975)
- Thomas Malory, Malory: Complete Works, edited by Eugene Vinaver. Alternatively, students may use the Project Gutenberg eBook of Le Morte d'Arthur provided the terms of the Project Gutenberg License can be met.
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