Posted on by Stephanie McGann

Fairy Tales #2: Cinderella

Evil stepmothers. Fairy godmothers. Glass slippers. Prince Charming. Happily ever after. What more could a fairy tale want? 

It is little wonder Cinderella is among the most popular fairy tales ever told, let alone one of the most reinvented. It has the archetypical “rags to riches” storyline, which has made for many a modern day Blockbuster hit. Whether you prefer Pretty Woman starring Julia Roberts or something a little more classical like Ever After with Drew Barrymore, there’s a version to suit everyone.

Even sports fans get in on the action when their teams make it “to the dance,” a.k.a. the NCAA Tournament. There’s nothing like watching a real-life “dream come true.” Watch a 16 seed beat a 1 seed, and the pundits are buzzing with Cinderella metaphors, whether they realize it or not.

The one catch with such a timeless story is that it has been imbued with layers upon layers of imagery over the years. This post is going back to the beginning, so to speak, and looking at the version recorded by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.  First, here is a breakdown of the plot.

PLOT SUMMARY
Exposition – The Background

Everything begins with an emotional scene wherein a dying mother tells her young daughter, “Dear child, be good and pious, and then the good God will always protect thee, and I will look down on thee from heaven and be near thee.” The daughter, who will end up being Cinderella, obeys her mother’s wish and visits her grave daily.

Inciting Incident – The Problem
“
Aschenbrödel by Carl Heinrich Hoff

By the following Spring (a rather short amount of time if you ask me), the girl’s father has taken a new wife who has two daughters of her own. Cinderella is not only displaced by her stepfamily, but turns into a servant for them, including for her father. Indeed, even he takes to calling her “Cinderella,” which is an insulting reference to her disheveled appearance. So often does she fall asleep by the fire that she is constantly covered in cinders and ashes.

Rising Action – The Build-up

Nevertheless, her father is not completely devoid of love for Cinderella. When he goes to a festival, he offers to get her something special. She asks him for “the first branch which knocks against your hat on your way home.” Never mind that her stepsisters ask for and receive all sorts of expensive finery.

Cinderella plants the branch by her mother’s grave and it blossoms into a type of wishing tree upon which sits a little white bird, presumably representing her mother. Only there does Cinderella find solace and comfort.

Against this backdrop, the royal prince throws a ball to find a wife, and Cinderella begs permission to go. Her stepmother feigns to allow her—if she can complete a series of seemingly impossible tasks. Through the help of various birds, likely led by the one from the wishing tree, Cinderella completes each task only to learn that her stepmother still refuses her permission. The trials were but a cruel trick.

Climax – The Breaking Point

Struck with grief, Cinderella goes to her mother’s grave and pours out her heart, wishing most deeply to go to the ball. The bird, in turn, gives her an exquisite gown and silk shoes. Cinderella dresses and goes to the ball. So beautiful is she that none recognize her, not even her stepmother and stepsisters.

The prince falls head over heels for Cinderella. He dances with her alone and eventually tries to escort her home, only to have Cinderella run away and hide in her family’s chicken coop where she escapes.

Falling Action – The Unraveling
Cinderella by Anne Anderson

The ball continues two more days. Each time, the bird at the wishing tree gives her a new gown and pair of shoes, made of gold and more beautiful than the last. So, too, does the prince try to escort her home, only to have her run away. On the third day, however, he has pitch spread all over the steps of the castle. While she still manages to get away, she loses one of her slippers.

Thus begins the prince’s famous quest to find the owner of the shoe. One after another, the stepsisters try it on. Lucky for them, they do so in a private room. So when the slipper proves too small for the first sister, the stepmother says, “Cut the toe off; when thou art Queen thou wilt have no more need to go on foot.” If it were not for two pigeons who “outed” the stepsister, the prince would have married her.

Pretty much the exact same thing happens with second stepsister. The two pigeons once again “out” the imposter and tell the prince his true bride still awaits.

When the prince asks the father if he has another daughter, he replies, “There is still a little stunted kitchen-wench which my late wife left behind her, but she cannot possibly be the bride.” Despite this cold remark, the prince insists on seeing the maiden.

Resolution – Happily Ever After

Cinderella tries on the slipper at last and proves herself the prince’s true love. They live happily ever after. Meanwhile, the stepsisters get their eyes plucked out by the two pigeons.

MOTIFS

You no doubt noticed many differences in the Brothers Grimm version compared to the other “typical” versions out there. Here is a profile of a few significant changes and what they tell us about the culture of the Middle Ages.

Daddy’s Home

This version includes Cinderella’s father, making him not only a willing bystander in the stepmother’s and stepsister’s treachery but even a type of accomplice. His character typifies the sad reality of family life in the Middle Ages. Many women died in childbirth, and their husbands were quick to take a new wife. This, we can infer, was born largely out of necessity as a father needed a spouse to manage the household.

It was only a matter of time before the husband had more children with his new wife, and his first wife’s children were displaced. In fairy tales, we tend to imagine that being so simply out of hatred. Stepmothers are naturally wicked and vengeful, or so the archetype goes. Of course they want to wipe away all memory of their husband’s first wife, even her resemblance in a child. That may have been so, but historically it had more to do with the finances of family survival.

Families were generally so poor in the Middle Ages, there was not much to go around. The mother was in charge of feeding the children, and few would have thought twice about shortchanging stepchildren. Such was their lot in life. It sounds cruel and heartless, especially when taken to extremes as in the story of Cinderella. In reality, children never got as much as they wanted because there was so little in the first place.

Saint Germaine was one such real-life displaced stepchild whose story bears remarkable similarities to Cinderella’s.  

Magical Bird

The magical bird in Cinderella at first seems somewhat random and not just because the Fairy Godmother is so much more typical these days. When we unpack the symbolism behind the bird, though, it makes a lot more sense.

Birds have always been powerful Christian symbols. For example, it was a bird that let Noah know the flood waters were receding. Symbolically, the bird was a heavenly messenger that brought hope and comfort. And let’s not forget that the Holy Spirit is most commonly represented as a white dove. One role the Holy Spirit has is that of a mediator between us and God. As such, the Holy Spirit guides us on earth and advocates on our behalf.

Cinderella by Elenore Abbot

The magical bird in Cinderella does all those things. She brings hope and comfort. She sends messages, both figuratively from Cinderella’s mother and literally to the prince. In doing so, she mediates Cinderella’s earthly relationships as well as her heavenly ones. 

For people of the Middle Ages, it made perfect sense to have the “spirit” of Cinderella’s mother represented in the bird. Such was the appropriate motif.  

The Fairy Godmother, which carries her own brand of Christian symbolism, did not emerge until Charles Perrault’s version, written in 1697.

Gold Slippers

Cinderella’s slippers are meant to be exquisite beyond our imaginings and no doubt more beautiful than those worn by all the other damsels. This shows us just how much her fortunes have changed thanks to her goodness and piety.

We can extend the imagery further, though, when we consider how important feet are in the Gospel. Christ Himself washes his Apostles’ feet at the Last Supper. In doing so, He figuratively tells the Apostles they must have clean souls in order to follow in His footsteps.

Cinderella’s feet are “cleaner” than those of other women because she has carried her own cross for so long and done so with such virtue. Her stepsisters, on the other, have ugly, disproportionate feet because they have not walked with Christ.

Charles Perrault replaces the gold slipper with a glass one. I happen to like this change better because it evokes a sense that Cinderella is light on her feet. What makes her so? Her lack of sin, of course! She is not weighed down by vice. Rather, she is lifted through virtues.

CONCLUSION

No matter which version of Cinderella you like best, we have the Brothers Grimm to thank for it. Without their determined efforts to record the tale, we would not have the multitude of spin-offs that exist today. Nor would we be able to glean so much insight into the mindsets and realities of everyday people of the Middle Ages.

Posted on by Stephanie McGann

Joan of Arc #5: According to Shakespeare, et al.

Mark Twain’s depiction of Joan of Arc in Personal Recollections is clearly that of a saint. While his view prevails in the Church, it is by no means universally accepted. In fact, it has been hotly debated ever since Joan emerged as a public figure and leader in the Hundred Years War (1337-1453).

Her French patriots, like Christine de Pizan, celebrated Joan as a heroine sent by God. Meanwhile, Joan’s English enemies, including William Shakespeare, set about demonizing her. Though centuries have passed, modern characterizations of Joan are no less disparate. Few today are outright hostile, but many are quick to write Joan off as a lunatic or an impostor. 

What is clear, is that Joan of Arc continues to capture the imagination of generations of people. Her story, though set in the Middle Ages, tugs at the heartstrings of society and plays on the moral conscience of Christians and non-Christians alike.

In order to draw my students deeper into an investigation of Joan’s life, we take a look at a handful of contending views.

A Glowing Contemporaneous View

Christine de Pizan’s poem The Song of Joan of Arc, written in 1429 while Joan was in the height of defeating the English in battle, offers a glowing view of her. As a fellow country(wo)man, it is no wonder de Pizan embraces Joan’s image as the Maid of Heaven. Totaling 61 stanzas in all, it offers seemingly endless praise of Joan while following a chronology of her life in the public eye.

A Hostile Contemporaneous View

William Shakespeare’s Henry VI: Part I (1591) presents a very interesting albeit factually inaccurate characterization of Joan. It represents a view of her from the English side, little over a century after her death. Naturally, the English preferred to think of Joan as a religious fraud; otherwise, it would seem that God was their enemy in the Hundred Years War.

Shakespeare’s depiction of Joan fits this viewpoint, calling her a “witch” and even a “whore” at different points in the play. When Joan first arises on the scene, she is a dynamic figure, full of strength and charisma at the head of the French military. As the play progresses to her trial, Joan falters to such an extent that she uses the pretext of being pregnant as a last resort to save her from being put to death.

Shakespeare presents this highly falsified image to discredit Joan’s persona as the “Virgin Maid.” By the end of the play, he has completely stripped Joan of her dignity and justified her condemnation and death.

An Inspiring Modern View

Sierra Pictures’ movie Joan of Arc (1949), starring Ingrid Bergman, offers another favorable view of Joan. It begins with her accepting a divine calling from God to save the French from the cruel hands of the English, then shows her triumphal leadership in battle, and concludes with her unjust condemnation and cruel death at the fiery stake. There is no question this film depicts Joan as a saint truly called by God.

A Neutral Modern View

Alliance Film’s movie Joan of Arc (1999) is the most modern view of Joan that I look at with students. While it shows her religious devotion, it stops short of presenting her as a saint. Instead, it hedges between characterizing her as a selfless servant of God on the one hand versus a prideful religious fanatic on the other.

The movie follows the typical order, beginning with Joan’s religious calling back in her hometown of Domremy, transitioning into her military command, and concluding with her trial and condemnation. It is a well done movie that provokes many questions not only about who Joan really was but also about modern society’s growing secularization. 

Take Away for Students

Just as there is no consensus in the world about who Joan of Arc really was, there never ends up being a consensus in my classroom. That is not because they don’t generally all agree she was saint. Rather, their disagreement has more to do with subtle nuances related to her personality and character.

Was she always gentle-natured? Or did she have a temper? Was she a model of humility? Or did her ego flare up from time to time?

Much less concerned do they end up being about the precise words she uttered when, say, she raised the siege of Orleans or spoke to the Dauphin at his coronation. These details, they realize, are distant background in the picture of what makes Joan a saint.

In the next post, I am going to describe a number of reading, writing, and rhetorical exercises I do with the class that help them wrestle with the many questions that arise in the course of our study. 

Posted on by Stephanie McGann

Joan of Arc #3: According to Mark Twain

Joan of Arc’s story has been told and retold a seemingly endless number of times. Since the dramatic highlights differ in each telling and even the facts of her life tend to vary, it is hard to single out one story above the rest, that is—until you read Mark Twain’s Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc. In order to understand what makes his version so special, we have to start with background on his interest in Joan’s life.

Mark and Joan — Unlikely “Friends”

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, more commonly known as Mark Twain, developed an interest in Joan of Arc by what he would have us think was a type of divine intervention. In 1849, during his early days working as a printer in Hannibal, Missouri, he claims to have grabbed a sheet of paper blowing in the wind while he was walking about the streets one day.

His curiosity piqued as he began reading about a French country maiden unjustly imprisoned in Rouen. The page, as it turned out, was from a history of Joan of Arc, someone whom Clemens alleges he previously had never heard of. Thus began his lifelong interest in learning as much about Joan’s history as possible. His biographer, Albert Bigelow Paine, refers to this episode as a “turning point” in Clemens’s life after which he gained an ever increasing appetite to learn about History.

Portrait of Mark Twain
by Mathew Brady,
February 1871

Clemens dedicated twelve years of research plus two years of writing to Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, though this did not ensue until much later in his career after he had already made a name for himself publishing such works as Huckleberry Finn. By that point, he was world-renowned for his unique “brand” of writing, and his general dislike of religious organizations—despite having been raised a Presbyterian—was well-known.

His decision to publish a historical biography on a Catholic saint would defy expectations and possibly hinder the success of his work. Recognizing this and fearful his work would not be reviewed on its own merits, he initially published the work as a year-long serial in Harper’s Magazine under the alias of “Sieur Louis de Conte.” This nom de plume, however, fooled very few, and Clemens’s concerns played out just as he had worried.

Reviews were harsh. The Boston Literary World criticized Twain for using modern, American idioms in a story set in fifteenth century France. Similarly, the Brooklyn Eagle said Joan’s characterization was that of “a nice little American girl of the mid-nineteenth century.” The New York Bachelor of Arts took its criticism a step further, saying Clemens turned “into a prosy, goody-goody writer of Sunday-school tales in his old age.” The criticisms got more personal from there, with one reviewer lamenting, “Mark Twain as a historical novelist is not at his best.”

Clemens was sorely disappointed. He had hoped readers would glean a better, more accurate understanding of the historical icon whom he had come to revere. Instead, he had become the focus.  

Nevertheless, Clemens felt Personal Recollections was the best of his works. It seems his feelings are shared by the masses who have purchased and read his work in the hundred-and-some-odd years since its initial publication. Such is often the case with classics. Time is the only real critic that matters in the end.

Conclusion

So why did Clemens dedicate so much time to learning about Joan of Arc and risk his career in the telling of her life? Of course the reasons are many, so we need only state the obvious. He not only liked her but also believed in her story at some level. What’s more, he felt it important to share Joan’s story with the world.

Although his critics saw Personal Recollections as a departure from his other works like Huckleberry Finn, I beg to differ. Joan, albeit a saint in her afterlife, was a firestorm in life much like Huck. Both defied social conventions and suffered great injustices for the sake of others. Moreover, just as Huck unwittingly fought against the tyranny of slavery, Joan unwittingly fought against the tyranny of a corrupted Church and State alliance.

In both works, Clemens tugs at the moral conscience of society. He challenges his readers to question the world they live in and make their own judgements about right and wrong, good and evil, justice and injustice, truth and falsehood. And that is precisely why Personal Recollections is such a powerful story for students and why it works for so well as the foundation for an investigation into Joan’s life.

We’ll take a closer look Clemens’s perspective, given through the eyes of his narrator Sieur Louis de Conte in the next post.  

Posted on by Stephanie McGann

Joan of Arc #2: A Basic History

To call this a “basic” history of Joan of Arc is a misnomer as there is nothing basic about her life. I thought about calling it an “objective” history, but that would be misleading as well because my bias in her favor certainly creeps in.

In any event, the point I am trying to get across in this post is that there are some generally accepted ideas about Joan that can serve as the starting point for trying to get to know who she really was. I have composed my own short biography of her, which draws these together. 

I share it with students at the beginning of our study unit. It’s kind of a spoiler, but since Joan is a historical figure as well as a literary character, I prefer to have everyone on the same page about what is going to happen and to point out aspects of her life that remain in question. 

The “Basics”  –  With Some Bias

Joan of Arc (1412-1431) was born in the small French village of Domremy. She was called Jehanne among her people and only later called Jehanette as she became a public figure. Like the other girls from her village, Joan tended sheep, sewed, spun,and was illiterate. She likely would have married and raised a family had her life not taken a dramatic turn at the age of thirteen.

Louis Maurice Boutet de Monvel (Joan of Arc Series: I), c. 1907-early 1909

According to Joan, a voice from God came to her cloaked in a great light. She was terrified at first but opened her heart to its message. The voice, which she learned was that of Saint Michael, instructed Joan in how to govern her life according to God’s will. He told Joan that Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret would guide her through a special mission, a mission to save France from its English enemies in what would later be called the Hundred Years War (1337-1453).

As predicted, Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret appeared to Joan two or three times a week. They instructed her in what was necessary for her mission and urged her to begin.

Joan was reluctant to leave her simple life, but she dutifully obeyed. At the age of sixteen, she set out to meet Robert de Baudricourt, the military leader at nearby Vaucouleurs. Despite his grave misgivings about Joan’s calling, de Baudricourt provided her with military escort to the uncrowned king of France, just as her saintly mentors had foretold.

Louis Maurice Boutet de Monvel, (Joan of Arc Series: II), Her Appeal to the Dauphin, 1906

Joan thus set off for Chinon in February 1429 where she gained an audience with the dubious King Charles VII. After some playful foolery at Joan’s expense, she sufficiently authenticated her divine mission by allegedly revealing knowledge of a secret between the king and God. Charles was captivated.

As a precaution, he then had Joan examined by Church officials who maintained she was of sound mind and soul. With that additional assurance, Charles made Joan the supreme commander of the French military.

Louis Maurice Boutet de Monvel, The Maid in Armor on Horseback (Joan of Arc series: III), c. 1908-late 1909

It is unclear whether Charles truly believed in Joan’s calling or instead hoped to capitalize on it by gaining a type of religious mascot for the war. Moreover,the extent of her true military leadership is also debated, but tradition holds that Joan did in fact gain significant prestige in the royal court and at least some authority in war councils and on the battlefield.

Louis Maurice Boutet de Monvel, The Turmoil of Conflict (Joan of Arc series: IV), c. late 1909-early 1913

In any event, Joan’s military tenure was brief but glorious. She raised the siege of Orleans in just nine days and had several other swift victories against the English that paved the way for the politically important coronation of Charles in Rheims.

With these victories, Joan’s status surpassed that of Charles himself. France was on fire for “the Maid,” and England was beside itself at how to combat her momentum. She was a polarizing figure. On the French side, Joan was viewed as God’s handmaiden. On the English, she was seen as a heretic and a witch.

Louis Maurice Boutet de Monvel, The Crowning at Rheims of the Dauphin (Joan of Arc series: V), 1907

After his coronation, Charles made an unexpected truce with the Duke of Burgundy, an ally of the English, to obtain Paris peacefully. Though Joan cautioned against this truce, Charles moved forward with it anyway believing it more politically expedient than sending Joan to take the city by force. His decision effectively removed Joan’s military power at the height of its strength and momentum, and much of her army disbanded.

Joan was caught in a precarious situation. She was too valuable to be allowed to return home but reduced to little more than a puppet in court. Charles still permitted Joan to fight in small skirmishes, but those lacked any major strategic objective.

With Joan’s army diminished, the Duke of Burgundy slyly built up forces in Paris and betrayed the truce. On May 23, 1430, Joan’s small army was overpowered by his forces at Compiegne. She was captured in battle, taken prisoner, and sold to the English. For reasons that remain unclear, Charles made no effort to pay her ransom.

Louis Maurice Boutet de Monvel, The Trial of Joan of Arc (Joan of Arc series: VI), c. late 1909-early 1910

Joan was put on trial before an English-backed ecclesiastical court at Rouen, Normandy, run by the corrupt Bishop of Beauvais, Pierre Cauchon. There was little chance Joan would have a fair trial. From the beginning, it was obvious the court’s soul intention was to find Joan guilty of heresy. Her trial began on January 9, 1431; she was found guilty of heresy on May 24; and she was burned at the stake on May 30. She was nineteen years old.

Her trial did not end there, however. In 1452, Pope Callixtus III reopened Joan’s trial at the request of her mother in what has become known as Joan’s trial of rehabilitation or nullification. Its goal was to reexamine the authenticity of Joan’s calling. On July 7, 1456, the court reversed the earlier ruling and found Joan was innocent of all charges and had therefore died a martyr. Pierre Cauchon was named a heretic instead for leading a sham trial.

Joan’s spiritual calling was thereby authenticated once and for all, and popular tradition held she was a saint. On May 16, 1920, Joan was formally canonized as such by the Catholic Church.

Conclusion

The Church’s opinion is what prevails in my classroom, but it is not necessarily what prevails in the world. There are many conflicting views of who Joan was, and I am very upfront with my students that they are free to come to their own conclusions. To advance that objective, we begin with a very in-depth study of Mark Twain’s Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, which is the focus of the next two posts.

Images Courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington

Posted on by Stephanie McGann

Joan of Arc #1: Introduction

My grandmother gave my brothers and sisters and I many saints books when we were little. I loved to flip through them. I would read the stories and gaze at the pictures, always wondering how much was true. Did Saint Francis really talk to animals? Did God really give Saint Lucy a new pair of eyes when hers were plucked out?

Now as a teacher, I find my students asking the same questions, and the truth is that I really don’t know any better today than I did when I was little girl. It is extremely hard to draw the line between fact and fiction, legend and history when it comes to the saints. To deny a single aspect of their story can feel tantamount to a loss of faith. Likewise, to accept it all can feel absurdly naïve.

So, how does one reconcile these extremes? The short answer is—we can’t. We have to accept our own limitations and make room for any apparent contradictions in reality. After all, that’s what faith is all about. 

The trouble is, that answer is terribly unsatisfactory, especially for a child. For that reason, I have tried to develop a framework for students to decide for themselves what they can and want to legitimately believe.

In this series, I am going to show how I use that framework for my class’s study of Saint Joan of Arc, a peasant-turned-soldier who played a critical role in the French victory over the English during the Hundred Years War and ultimately died a brutal martyr’s death at the fiery stake.

Like so many saints, questions abound as to who Joan really was: a devout Catholic, a crazed lunatic, or something else entirely. Perhaps the world will never know, but we can certainly try to find out by comparing and questioning the myriad of stories about her.

Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
Luc Olivier Merson, Joan of Arc Hearing the Voices (1895)

My class does this by drawing together the history of the Hundred Years War, Mark Twain’s Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, along with several other great literary works and spiritual reflections. Thus, this study cuts across Religion, History, and Literature.

As pointed out in the last post, saints like Joan of Arc make for illuminating case studies across disciplines. Joan, fascinating in her own right, reveals so much more than the life of a single individual. She is also a model of the time in which she lived as well as a leader for countless future generations. 

In subsequent posts, I will present a basic summary of the life of Joan of Arc, followed by a breakdown of Mark Twain’s depiction both as an author and a narrator. Then, I will summarize several other popular stories about Joan that have arisen over the years. Finally, I will share the methods I use to help students make sense of these various characterizations of her.

By the end, I hope you will feel like you really know Joan of Arc and the world she lived in, even if aspects of her life remain a mystery.

Image courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Posted on by Stephanie McGann

The Lady of Shalott #4: Copia Exercise

When I first assigned copia as part of my class’s study of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem, “The Lady of Shallot,” I only meant for them to work on language expression as a relatively quick warm-up to begin Literature class. That is, I wanted them to rewrite Tennyson’s poem in their own words while staying True to his meaning. As expected, most students wrote their copias in paragraph format.

But a few students took it upon themselves to add the extra challenge of writing in verse. I was amazed as they replicated Tennyson’s language patterns, including his rhyme scheme and meter!

Next thing I knew, everyone was trying to do the same thing with their copias. Our “little” writing warm-up had turned into something gigantic. We ended up using entire class periods to annotate and rewrite single stanzas. It looked something like this:

10 minutes discussing the stanza and marking up Tennyson’s original ideas. We would come up with synonyms, unpack symbolism, and unveil as much hidden meaning as we could.

10 minutes to rewrite the stanza as a single sentence. Our goal was to not only illustrate comprehension of Tennyson’s meaning, but to represent it in a beautiful, artistic way.

15 minutes to rewrite the stanza in poetic form. Once again, our goal was to stay true to Tennyson’s original meaning, but we also wanted to capture his rhyme scheme and meter.

10 minutes for students to share their copias, which most were eager to do. They would applaud one another’s readings with “ooohs” and “aaaahs” and “wows,” secretly hoping theirs would outshine the rest. It was a little like an evening at a poetry club.

Since that first group of students, I have played around with how to structure class periods, but I have stuck with the basic method of instruction. From year-to-year, the end products are consistently beautiful.

The following examples are based on Part III, Stanza I of the poem, which introduces Sir Lancelot. Here are Tennyson’s original words.

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves,
He rode between the barley-sheaves,
The sun came dazzling thro’ the leaves,
And flamed upon the brazen greaves
Of bold Sir Lancelot.
A red-cross knight for ever kneel’d
To a lady in his shield,
That sparkled on the yellow field,
Beside remote Shalott.

Once we analyzed the stanza, students were ready to rewrite it as a single sentence.

Here are three short student copias.

EXAMPLE ONE

Sir Lancelot, graced with honor and beauty, flashed across her mirror.

EXAMPLE TWO

She saw a man unlike any other, more handsome and noble, and she longed to reach out to him.

EXAMPLE THREE

The mighty Sir Lancelot emblazed his image on her heart.

Here are three long student copias.

EXAMPLE ONE

In the mirror sparkling clear,
Between the barley far and near,
Between the many emerald tears,
Came he whose very name is feared,
The knight Sir Lancelot.
His shield shone with an image clear,
Of a red-crossed knight with gleaming spear,
Who knelt before his lady dear,
As if for she he fought.

EXAMPLE TWO

From further than the longest night,
Came man on horseback riding light,
A young, handsome, and noble knight,
Not strong in virtue but strong in fight,
The bold Sir Lancelot.
A red-cross knight forever sworn
To protecting all by word and sword,
There she stood and could not ignore,
The bold Sir Lancelot.

EXAMPLE THREE

When he rides it gives a fright,
One of Arthur’s near-perfect knights,
They say he’s never lost a fight,
Could cut you down with a single strike,
The brave Sir Lancelot.
She reflects upon his armor’s sheen,
She looks at how his broad sword gleams,
She knows not that her face does beam,
The Lady of Shalott.

Not surprisingly, each copia example reflects a considerable investment of time and energy by the student. Though the writing came easier for some than others, all had to carefully work through the process.

What may be surprising is that each of the students experienced tremendous joy and satisfaction in the midst of toiling through the writing. Of course they were happy when they were done, but so too were they excited as they worked. And that makes for beautiful poetry.

Posted on by Stephanie McGann

The Lady of Shalott #2: Literary Analysis

“The Lady of Shallot” by Alfred Lord Tennyson is a narrative poem, which simply means it’s a poem that tells a story. It is made up of verses, which are single lines, and stanzas, which are groupings of lines.

Tennyson divided the entire poem into four parts that transition through the plot, beginning with the exposition, moving onto the inciting incident, up through the climax, and back down to its resolution.

Tennyson draws from Arthurian legend but builds on it at the same time. Indeed, his leading lady is unique to the poem. She is a symbolic representation of an artist, perhaps even Tennyson himself.

Literal Interpretation

PART I: EXPOSITION – THE BACKGROUND

Here Tennyson presents Camelot as the setting for his poem. In keeping with the traditions of Arthurian legend, it is an idyllic kingdom with a beautiful natural landscape divided in half by a flowing river. The mysterious Island of Shalott and its tall grey tower stand strong against the current, presenting an image that is at once part of, yet separate from everything else. It is believed that a fair damsel is imprisoned in the tower, but none have visited it to be sure. Only fieldworkers can attest to her existence because they have heard her singing in the early mornings.

PART II: INCITING INCIDENT – THE PROBLEM

In this section, Tennyson takes us inside the tower and reveals the Lady of Shalott. He tells us she is cursed to live there and weave a never-ending tapestry of everything going on in the world outside. As such, she cannot participate in what she sees. To make matters worse, she does not even get to look at the world directly through the window. Instead, she must look at it through a mirror. The images then, beautiful as they may be, are really no more than shadows. She delights in them nonetheless, only occasionally feeling left out when she watches happy couples in love.

PART III: CLIMAX – THE BREAKING POINT

The difficulty of being set apart from the world reaches a breaking point when the Lady of Shalott sees an image of the handsome Sir Lancelot riding across her mirror. She is so captivated by him that she notices every last detail of his person. In fact, Tennyson uses four whole stanzas to describe his appearance. In the fifth and final stanza of this section, the Lady of Shalott cannot take it anymore. She has to see him directly—not as a reflection or a shadow, but as a real-life person. No sooner does she turn away from the mirror and look at him through the window, then her tapestry disappears, and she is doomed to death. “The curse is come upon me,” she cries.

PART IV: RESOLUTION – THE “FIX” (OR LACK THEREOF)

Knowing her end is imminent, the Lady of Shalott descends the tower and finds a boat to serve as her funeral barge. She lies down, placing a name plate upon her chest, and floats down the river toward Camelot. All of nature is wrought with grief as she slowly dies. A storm rises up; the trees turn pale; and the banks complain with its crashing waves. All the while, the Lady of Shalott sings her last song, marked with sadness and grief. When her boat finally runs ashore, the people discover her dead body and learn her identity. Sir Lancelot, ever the heart-breaker, remarks how lovely she is and asks God to bestow a blessing upon her.

Figurative Interpretation

As if its literal meaning is not fascinating enough on its own, Tennyson has written much symbolism into his poem. He tells us (between the lines) that the Lady of Shalott symbolizes the artist.

Both are tasked with the special job of representing Goodness, Beauty, and Truth in the world. The Lady of Shalott does so through her tapestry, while other artists might do so through a variety of mediums like drawing, writing, and singing. Obviously, some artists are better than others, and the best ones are able to look at the world with objectivity. Put differently, the better an artist is able to see things through the eyes of God—our first artist and ultimate judge—the better he is able to represent it in his work.

Herein lies a central point. Goodness, Beauty, and Truth are not relative terms or values, nor are they subjective. Likewise, they do not change with the times like fashion trends. They are objective virtues, meant to be obtained in absolute perfection.

The Lady of Shalott knows this. Thus, to be a good artist and maintain her objectivity, she must be set apart from everyone and everything. The moment she engages the world directly by looking out the window, she forms her own subjective view, which is entirely focused on Sir Lancelot. She no longer notices the willows, or the aspens, or the little breezes. Nor does she see Sir Lancelot in his fullness, meaning what his soul looks like on the inside. Instead, she fixates on his handsome good looks, while failing to unmask his vices.

Though we may feel happy for her that she is free from the tower, she has become imprisoned anew with her own subjectivity. Tennyson tells us that as she floats down the river, “Her eyes were darkened wholly.” Thus, she loses her vision, both literally and figuratively, and dies.

One must wonder if Tennyson felt a little like the Lady of Shalott. Perhaps we all do at times. Indeed, my students often find similarities with their own lives. They note how music and movies and other realities of contemporary society can weaken their ability to see the difference between right and wrong, virtue and vice. The more they are exposed to certain things, the less they are able to judge them fairly.

Each of us, artists in our ways, continually struggle to reconcile the pressures of the world and the demands of our unique callings. Unlike the Lady of Shalott, however, we are not doomed, for we have the blessing of free will to navigate our way.

Posted on by Stephanie McGann

The Legend of King Arthur #6: Plot Summary

In a literary sense, plot refers to a series of causally-related events that revolve around a central problem, rise to a climax, and ultimately come to a resolution. Roger Lancelyn Green followed this classical plot structure in his version of the legend of King Arthur, while also ensuring that it maintained its traditional connections to the Bible. Each plot element outlined below has a direct and deliberate connection to salvation history.   

Try following allow by filling in this plot diagram. Or use this complete one as a quick reference. I am also sharing my chapter journal questions that deal with specifics of the plot.

Exposition 

Another word for exposition is setting. The setting for King Arthur, then, is Britain sometime after the fall of the Roman Empire but before the full onset of the Middle Ages. Here we see a match-up between actual history and the legend since Britain at that time really was ruled by various barbarian groups, most famously the Saxons, who lacked a codified rule of law. Moreover, as barbarians, they lacked a Christian worldview and the order it imparts.

Arthur becomes king in this context and thus begins unifying the people of Logres into a Realm of Righteousness and turning it into a type of “Garden of Eden.”  

Inciting Incident  

The inciting incident is the problem that sets the plot in motion. Put differently, it is an event of such great proportions that it fundamentally alters the world of the story and must be played out to its fullest extent. The dolorous stroke is the inciting incident of King Arthur. In a literal sense, the dolorous stroke refers to when Sir Balyn struck King Pelles, maiming him and his kingdom beyond the powers of human healing.

Figuratively, it matches up to the fall of Adam and symbolizes the entry of sin. All of Arthur’s efforts will revolve around trying to ward off the ill effects of the dolorous stroke and restore Logres as a Realm of Righteousness.  

Rising Action  

King Arthur sends his knights on quest after quest to right the wrongs in his kingdom. The quests are wrought with great peril, but the Knights of the Round Table continually emerge victorious because of their great skill at arms and virtuous souls. This dramatic climb eventually comes to a head with the onset of the quest for the Holy Grail.

Literally, the Holy Grail is the cup from which Christ drank at the Last Supper. Figuratively, it represents the source of healing for Logres, or the means by which it can once again be a Realm of Righteousness. Try as they might, none of the knights are virtuous enough to achieve the quest.    

Climax  

Enter Sir Galahad, the “holy knight of Logres.” As explained in the character sketches, he is a Messianic figure. Like Christ, he is the only one who can “drink the cup” of the Holy Grail and heal the sinful effects of the dolorous stroke. His life’s purpose is accomplished at the conclusion of the quest, which is the climax, and so he dies and goes to Heaven.

It should be noted that Galahad objectively defeats sin, but he cannot subjectively defeat it for everyone else. Through him, it is possible for Logres to once again be a Realm of Righteousness, but it is up to each individual to make it that way.  

Falling Action  

Sometimes referred to as the “unravelling,” the falling action is typically a quick descent in the drama that seems almost without control. Here, we focus on the affair between Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere. The illicit nature of their relationship permeates the story, but only reveals itself in all its ugliness at this point. The couple gets swept up in their romance, leaves caution to wind, and gets discovered.

Urged on by Sir Mordred, though without the approval of Sir Gawain, King Arthur deals swiftly with the treason. Sir Lancelot manages to escape, but as Arthur’s enemy.  

Resolution  

King Arthur learns too late that Sir Mordred was using the affair as a way to break the trust of the Round Table and elevate himself to the throne. Thus ensues a great battle between Arthur and Mordred, the latter of whom succeeds in turning many of the Knights of the Round Tables.

Arthur receives a grievous wound in the battle, which may or may not have killed him—the mystery makes for a great debate! In any event, his wound is largely symbolic as it represents the presence of vice in his life.

At this point, Morgana reemerges to “heal” Arthur in the mysterious Vale of Avalon, a place akin to purgatory. My students always feel a little let down by this resolution, so some prefer to call it an anti–resolution. After all, it seems like Arthur is dead and the Realm of Righteousness is defeated once and for all. 

Yet, a figurative interpretation gives us a different spin. Arthur lives on not only through the endurance of the story, but also through eternal life. He may not have been perfect, but he was able to subjectively win a place in Purgatory, the gateway to Heaven, thanks to Galahad’s objective victory over sin and death.

Finally and perhaps obviously, the last battle is comparable to the apocalypse. It is the end of the “world” of Logres, but also the final entry point into eternity, the true Realm of Righteousness.