The Once and Future Queen

by Nicole Evelina

  474 Bonner, "Guinevere as Heroine," 94.

  475 Newman, Sharan, The Chessboard Queen, 1982 (New York:, Tor, 1982, 1997), 283.

  476 Cooley, "Re-vision from the Mists," 45.

  477 Bonner, "Guinevere as Heroine," 95.

  478 Herman, "Sharan Newman's Guinevere," 46.

  479 Newman, Sharan, The Chessboard Queen, 248.

  480 Gordon-Wise, The Reclamation of a Queen, 128.

  481 Ibid., 127.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Persia Woolley

  “It’s no easy business being queen of any country, and I should imagine a High Queen has more demands made upon her than most. I know you’ll handle them well girl…and be a good mate besides…You’re too much like your mother not to.”482

  — Child of the Northern Spring by Persia Woolley

  “Through the Eyes of a Real Woman”

  As the 1980s came to an end and the 1990s began, Persia Woolley was penning a completely different take on Guinevere. In the preface of the final book in The Guinevere Trilogy, Guinevere: The Legend in Autumn (1991), Woolley explains why she tackled such a well-trod subject: “It seems clear that although women look at the same events as men, they see very different things…. I felt that it was time we took a new look at an old story through the eyes of a real woman, and who better to see, know and understand the characters of the Round Table than the much-loved Queen at the heart of it.”483

  The events of the books largely follow Malory, and as a result are, in Lacy’s view, “closer to medieval romance in plot and incident, but the story is revalued by an imaginative use of new motivations and relationships, making it more realistic in terms of present day conceptions of human nature.”484

  Woolley’s Guinevere is purposefully a total departure from previous depictions of the character. Raised a pagan Celtic queen, she is impatient with the traditional womanly pursuits of carding, spinning, weaving, and sewing. Rather, she is more boyish. “By giving her a rough, tomboy background, I made sure she’d be looking at her new husband’s world with fresh eyes,” the author said.485 In keeping with that characterization, Woolley’s Guinevere is naturally beautiful, but unconcerned with her appearance, leading the reader to share her unconcern and focus on her character. “By redirecting both the reader’s and Guinevere’s attention from her physical appearance, Woolley is able to portray Guinevere’s character strengths, not just as distinct from her looks, but in spite of them,”486 argues Cooley.

  As a queen, Guinevere is very much Arthur’s equal. When she learns that Arthur would like to marry her, she weighs the pros and cons of his proposal with her father, considering first what it would mean for her people, as she views herself as their mother. When she accepts, Arthur takes her as his co-ruler, granting her power and listening to her innovative ideas. This is consistent with the mores of the time of the book’s writing. Cooley notes that by the 1980s when Woolley was writing, “women were beginning to see themselves represented by mayors, governors, and congresswomen, and feminist Arthurian authors contributed to this reputation by writing their own female politicians…Woolley give[s] Guinevere an opportunity to rule in the king’s stead while he is away, and Woolley’s Arthur even acknowledges Guinevere’s success.”487 During this time, the idea of the “man of the house” was gradually fading and men were ceding marital power in favor of establishing a more equal married relationship.

  Guinevere is highly independent, even slapping Malegant when he makes sexual advances toward her. His rape of her, and the transmittal of a life-threatening sexually transmitted disease, is the cause of her barrenness. This is a strikingly modern twist on an age-old plot point. “That Woolley writes the cause of Guinevere’s barrenness to be her rape and subsequent illness demonstrates, for anyone doubting the seriousness of psychological damage, the physical consequences of trauma,”488 writes Cooley. Woolley was also writing during the height of the AIDS epidemic, when cultural consciousness and fear of sexually transmitted diseases were at an all-time high, so consciously or not, this could have influenced her decision to take a non-traditional approach to Guinevere’s barrenness.

  Woolley’s Guinevere is also a highly sexual character, and being raised as a Celtic queen, she was not ashamed to admit it. “Woolley’s [interpretation of] Celtic law offers a glimpse of what women’s sexual liberation could look like in a society where sexual autonomy is legally and culturally sanctioned,”489 writes Cooley. For Guinevere, the right to bed any man she chose was ingrained and expected. She says to Lancelot that to her, their lovemaking was a foregone conclusion, simply because she desired it.490 Cooley does a masterful job contrasting Woolley’s Guinevere with that of Marion Zimmer Bradley in regard to their attitudes toward sex:

  Woolley’s Guinevere, a “Celtic queen” who worships a feminine aspect of the Divine, views sexuality as a woman’s right, whereas Bradley’s, a pious Christian, has been raised in the Church and views sexuality outside of marital duty as sinful, despite her affair with Lancelot. Their oppositional portrayals have the same effect, however. Woolley seems fully supportive of Guinevere’s sexuality, and in fact, it is the Church who overrules her right as a Celtic queen and condemns her to death for adultery. Bradley emphasizes Guinevere’s double standard that serves to anger and alienate some of her ladies-in-waiting. Both imply that sexual autonomy and empowerment among women should be celebrated, and that women should not resort to shaming each other while engaging with their own sexuality in secrecy.491

  Here again, Woolley’s storyline strongly reflects the key social issues of the time. As the second wave of feminism wound down in the late 1980s and the third began to pick up steam in the early 1990s, issues of sexuality were hot topics. Birth control, rape, and abortion brought the right of a woman to choose what happens to her own body before, during, and after sex to the forefront of public debate. A result of this discourse was the conflict of woman against woman—much like we see with Bradley and Woolley’s Guineveres in the above quote—resulting in what many term the “feminist sex wars.”

  Unable to have children of her own, Guinevere raises Mordred, viewing him as a child of her heart and serving as his main teacher. Having known him for so long and so intimately, she is perplexed when, later in life, he steals Arthur’s throne. Guinevere makes a bargain with Morgan that she will abdicate the throne and retire to a convent. After Camlann, she honors her promise and Lancelot returns to searching for the Grail, as he did before their affair. Later, when she does return, Guinevere takes comfort in the assurance that her subjects have remained as loyal to her as she has always been to them and that they had threatened to rise up against Arthur if he had delayed any longer in returning her to her rightful place on the throne.

  Given this characterization of Guinevere, which Cooley describes as “arguably the most outspoken and independent of all the Guineveres written by feminist Arthurian authors,”492 at least to her time, it is not surprising that Woolley is seen as one of the last great feminist writers of Arthuriana during the second wave of feminism.493

  * * *

  482 Woolley, Persia, Child of the Northern Spring, 1987 (Naperville: Sourcebooks, 2010), 8.

  483 Woolley, Persia, Guinevere: The Legend in Autumn, 1993 (Naperville: Sourcebooks, 2011), i.

  484 Lacy, The New Arthurian Encyclopedia: New Edition, 526

  485 Woolley, The Legend in Autumn, ii.

  486 Cooley, "Re-vision from the Mists," 21.

  487 Ibid., 28.

  488 Ibid., 75.

  489 Ibid., 59.

  490 Ibid., 60.

  491 Ibid., 60.

  492 Ibid., 32.

  493 Ibid.,113. The second wave of feminism is said to have ended in the 1980s.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Nancy Mckenzie an
d Rosalind Miles

  “You are to write it down, Gwen. The story of your life. Of Arthur’s deeds. Of the times.”

  If he meant to shock me, he succeeded.

  “Me? Write it down? A woman’s words? Whatever for?”494

  — Queen of Camelot by Nancy McKenzie

  Guinevere and Elaine

  As the twentieth century drew to a close, two more female novelists turned their attention to Guinevere, with very different results. Nancy McKenzie’s two Guinevere novels, The Child Queen (1994) and The High Queen (1995), were originally conceived of as one book by the author, but the publisher decided to split them into two, only to re-release them as a single volume, Queen of Camelot, in 2002.495 Though not as widely studied, and perhaps not as popular as many of the other modern female authors discussed in this book, McKenzie still makes noteworthy, though not altogether affirming, contributions to the character of Guinevere.

  The Child Queen opens with the prophecies of a witch regarding Guinevere’s fate, a role usually assigned to Merlin. Guinevere spends her childhood riding across the hills of Northern Wales and spending time with her cousin, Elaine, a relationship that will sour and spoil once Arthur enters the picture because he distracts Guinevere from giving her full attention to Elaine. Arthur and Guinevere have a strong marriage and he relies on her as a trusted advisor and she comforts him in times of stress.496 Jealous of Guinevere and Arthur’s relationship, Elaine later helps Malegant kidnap Guinevere and tricks Lancelot into marriage.

  Publisher’s Weekly blames Guinevere’s equanimity at these events for the ultimate failure of the book to satisfy and for the negative light in which Guinevere is regarded. “Guinevere is unaccountably blind to Elaine’s malevolence, and her characterization as a singular, strong and intuitive woman suffers accordingly. The book ends weakly, for the conflict between Elaine and Guinevere unfortunately comes to a head in a series of scenes where Guinevere behaves like nothing so much as a spoiled brat.” Raymond Thompson writes along similar lines, comparing this relatively weakened—or perhaps we should call her traditional—Guinevere to Cinderella, who like the woman of fairy tales “must survive the machinations of her aunt and jealous cousin (Elaine), who try to prevent, then break up, her marriage to Arthur.”497

  It is true that Elaine seems almost more the main character than Guinevere, for in much of the book the action is based in Guinevere’s reaction to Elaine’s thoughts, words, and deeds, rather than on Guinevere’s own agency. Guinevere seems to be constantly following the will of others—especially Elaine and the men in her life—rather than exerting her own, a characterization that lessens her in the eyes of the reader.

  Perhaps this is an intentional evocation of the earlier, fragile Guineveres of Malory and his predecessors, but it does not sit well with the modern reader. Even at the very end of the book, Guinevere seems to feel as though her life will end with Arthur’s death. She reflects: “Britain would miss him, certainly. But Britain would have other kings. It was I, Guinevere, who would not survive his passing.”498 This line of thinking may be meant to reflect her great love for Arthur, but it does not show Guinevere as having any confidence in her own ability to carry on, to continue alone the legacy she and Arthur began. Rather than reflecting the strong, modern woman, this Guinevere appears to be a throwback to the damsel in distress of previous legend.

  In all, McKenzie does little to advance the character of Guinevere; rather, she pulled the character back to her pre-feminism roots, where she has little desire to be more than a puppet manipulated by those around her, a bubble tossed about by the sea. There is certainly nothing wrong with being true to the literary origins of a character, but when writing in the 1990s for an audience raised to demand strength from their heroines, making this type of choice is risky, and in this case results in a step back for a character seemingly on an unstoppable march toward finally claiming greatness.

  Rosalind Miles

  “Deceiving Arthur was a daily ache. Loving Lancelot wounded her mortally as it kept her alive. All that was beautiful in their love was cruel and ugly, too. All this she saw every moment of every day…

  From minute to minute she twisted and turned like flotsam on the waves. She loved Lancelot now more than her own soul. But how could she love him when she still loved Arthur?

  If she still loved her husband, what was she doing with a lover?

  And if she did not love Arthur, what did that make her?”499

  — Rosalind Miles, Queen of the Summer Country

  On the heels of McKenzie’s lackluster Guinevere, Rosalind Miles created a feministic Guinevere with the publication of Guenevere: Queen of the Summer Country in 1998. Her character was more in keeping with her time, echoing Lacy’s assertion that, “Arthurian female characters…mirror fantasies about and fears of women within the ages that produced them. In keeping with women’s emergence in the twentieth century, many contemporary Arthurian fictions are more female-centered than ever before. Written by women authors, they are directed primarily at female audiences, and they depict the lives of their otherworld heroines in the intimate detail of realistic fiction.”500

  Miles’ Guinevere is raised and trained for her future by her mother, a powerful woman who worships the Goddess, rules her own warriors, and engages in the ancient Celtic practice of changing her consort every seven years. Like her modern counterparts in the workplace, this Guinevere is trained never to show fear and, like so many of her readers, would prefer to remain single. In an interesting twist, Guinevere’s mother rules Camelot, so it is established early as belonging to women—to Guinevere upon her mother’s death—not to Arthur, as tradition dictates.

  Johnson praises this Guinevere’s steadfast nature and iron will. “Miles’ Guinevere in Guenevere: Queen of the Summer Country has no problem with making decisions. She was raised by her mother and learned from an early age that she must be responsible for her own self as well of that of her kingdom. After her marriage to Arthur, she sees no reason to step down from her responsibility. Raised to be a strong leader, she has the confidence to make critical decisions which include overriding the King’s command by ordering soldiers on the battlefield.”501

  Guinevere holds the cards in this Arthurian tale. As a headstrong woman, she is the one to propose marriage to Arthur—which serves Guinevere’s interest because it saves her from marrying her kinsman, Malegant—and it is she who envisions their union as a first step in the effort to build a nation as high king and high queen. Upon being wedded, she makes Arthur both her husband and champion. And it is Guinevere who gifts Arthur with the Round Table and begins the order of knighthood.

  Even after they’ve wed, Arthur treats Guinevere much like an equal. When Arthur is physically wounded or mentally exhausted, he defers to Guinevere to make decisions for the realm, a responsibility she gladly accepts. However, later on, as Arthur becomes more influenced by Christianity, he makes more decisions without her and she grows resentful.502

  Even with her progressive role and attitude, bearing a child is still a prime responsibility for the queen. But instead of being barren and wracked with guilt as tradition dictates, Guinevere gives birth to a son, which Johnson sees as having a positive effect on the queen. “Giving birth to the future king and having a child to love enables this Queen Guinevere to enjoy a serenity that [other versions of the character] rarely experience.”503 However, this doesn’t mean total happiness for Guinevere. She is disappointed that the babe isn’t a daughter. While this is a shocking reaction to readers used to traditional Arthurian legend, it is in keeping with the matriarchal beliefs by which she was raised.

  Her maternal happiness is short-lived, however. When her son is killed at age seven in a battle with the Saxons (one she begged Arthur not to involve him in), Guinevere retreats to Avalon, telling Arthur she will never forgive him and denying her role as queen. One would think this would be a perfect time for her affair with Lancelot to begin, but i
t does not.

  It is only after Guinevere returns because the people need her, and only after her marriage to Arthur is essentially over, that Guinevere’s love for Lancelot begins. The death blow to their wedded bliss takes place after Arthur’s half-sister Morgan gives birth to a son, when, as in Malory, Arthur orders all male newborns killed in attempt to kill his incestuously conceived son, Mordred. This is too much for Guinevere, who withdraws her love and affection from the monster her husband has become.

  In a twist on traditional legend, several times Arthur gives Guinevere the chance to put him away, to take a new lover as her mother did when one was needed. Though she loves Lancelot, she is wracked with guilt over her affair, and refuses, acknowledging they were both to blame for the problems in their marriage. Johnson explains, “[Rosalind] Miles present[s] the emotional roller coaster ride on an extremely conflicted Guinevere who struggles to reconcile her feelings for her lover and those for her husband whom she alternately loves, despises and respects.”504 Given his understanding of his own culpability in the situation, Arthur is hesitant to punish the affair. It is the public exposure that forces Arthur to act. 505

  After Lancelot leaves, Guinevere discovers she is pregnant and gives birth to her long-wished-for daughter. After that, they see each other once a year on Beltane, which as Johnson points out gives Guinevere the freedom to focus on her kingdom, rather than on her husband. “Miles’ pagan Guinevere turns away from Lancelot because she believes her first responsibility is to her land and kingdom. The Queen convinces her people that Arthur is merely sleeping in Avalon, and living openly with Lancelot would contradict the notion that she believes her husband will return.”506 Johnson goes to emphasize Guinevere’s continued activity after Arthur’s death. “She continues the dream of Camelot among all her people who heartily accept her as their sole ruler.”507