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The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley Essay

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The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley

The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley, is not only an example of a Medieval Romance, but also tells the story of the women who stood behind King Arthur during his infamous reign in the Middle Ages. The term “Medieval Romance” does not necessarily mean that the piece using it contains any sort of romance. There are three criteria that must be meet to form a Medieval Romance. (1) The plot must divide into sharply separate episodes that often do not seem joined in any obvious casual fashion. (2) The plots generally take the form of tests that they must pass to attain form goal. (3) The protagonist fails tests, which often involve acts of moral and spiritual perception, until such a point …show more content…

They believe in one all-powerful god above who can take as many forms and names, as he wants. Even though the believers In Avalon thought well of the Christian, the Christians despised those from Avalon, and thought of them as evil. Viviane, a woman, is the High Priestess of Avalon. It was she, following the wishes of the Goddess, who set Arthur on the Throne. The High Priestess seats Arthur on the throne in the hope that he will protect the rites and traditions of Avalon. Old Arthurian Legends were always told from a Christian man’s perspective, the Lady of the Lake is looked on as an evil sorceress. In The Mists of Avalon, however, we see Viviane’s actions through Viviane’s eyes. This new perspective allows us to see that Viviane worked only for the good of the people and is not evil. It is in this feminine perspective that we are given more insight into Arthurian Legend.

Camelot and Avalon were alive in the time of knights, and of war and conquest. Old Arthurian Legend is full of tales about an individual knight's prowess. Tales of bloody battles, and of long quests with many duels are very common. They also told of great battles with foreign invaders. Long battles full of gore and great detail. In The Mists of Avalon there are many battles against such invaders. Most notably of such battles are the Saxons. The Saxons try to take over the lands of High and Les Britain. Arthur must rally all the people of his lands to unite

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