"Arthurian female heroes, contrariwise, exist (at least for a time) as active helpers to male heroes, but always in the service of the patriarchal culture the hero upholds" (Fries, 3). One could argue that since this universe is thus so narrow for women, that embodying these counter-hero roles is actually the one way in which women can become empowered. Since autonomy and self-determination does not so strongly exist for women this fictional realm, and that they often function as a means of reflecting or mirroring the desires and goals of the greater male hero that the only way for these women to manifest desires and goals of their own is by attacking the already established values and structure.
While Fries strongly attributes this narrowing and general one-dimensionality of the female figure in Arthurian literature, to the sheer inability of male authors of the period to imagine anything else, and this is in fact an accurate take on the situation, it's not the only reason why women in the Arthurian universe have to take on the role of counter-hero so immediately. So much of the female dynamic as counter hero is connected to the male fear of female power, and that if females were to actually achieve this power, they would use it to the detriment of men (Saul, 1). Arthurian authors have not created a female character who is as a powerful as Merlin or as brave and noble as Lancelot and who uses all of their power for good. Thus, perhaps it's not simply that Arthurian male writers couldn't imagine a powerful woman with her own abilities for self-determination, they just couldn't imagine one who was powerful, autonomous and good. This sheer inability to imagine revolves around fear of women obtaining this power: Morgan le Fay is such a threat to the male writers of this period in that she's not just willing to create treason, but that she also has the powers of a sorceress. This gives her an untamed, supernatural quality and a renegade power that makes it difficult for the men of this realm to confront or anticipate. Morgan le Fay states regarding her brother King Arthur, "I shall put an enchantment upon him that he shall not awake in six hours, and then I will lead him away unto my castle, and when he is surely in my hold, I shall take the enchantment from him" (Malory, 179). These planned actions not only show an ability of a female figure to self-determine and act with complete autonomy, but to do so through magic, completely overpowering the male, an act which no doubt was a source of anxiety for Arthurian writers. More importantly, Morgan le Fay accomplishes everything she sets out to do, overpowering the great King Arthur with her enchantment.
Thus, Morgan le Fay is an archetype of the main way that a woman can enjoy unbridled power, authority and independence in the realm of Arthurian literature, through rebellious and seditious acts. It appears that only through breaking the codes of this very male universe can a woman achieve a palpable level of sovereignty. The perhaps underlying fear that informs the bulk of Arthurian writers' thoughts and fears about women in power is most heavy-handed when it comes to Morgan le Fay. As these writers paint in her in the colors of counter-hero, they do so in an entirely dichotomous manner, reducing her perhaps to an almost unoriginal archetype of evil: they took away her beauty. One could argue that this was indeed a calculated move as Morgan was not created in the Arthurian universe as an ugly hag: this was a transformation the authors gave her; in certain respects this was a way of damning her as she became more powerful. Arthurian authors precisely and strategically change Morgan's physical appearance along with the ability of her healing powers; Morgan becomes described as hot, lecherous, and brown-faced (Fries, 5). Since physical beauty is a coefficient of moral goodness in medieval literature, her ugliness emerges as spiritual as well as corporeal" (Fries, 5).
Thus, even in this fictional universe one could argue that by making Morgan hideous, the writers were essentially punishing her for becoming so powerful, even though ironically, they were the ones who...
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