Merlin: "Lancelot and Guinevere"

[wealhtheow]

I love Arthurian legend, but I cannot stand the old-school Christianity and sexism intermixed with it.  The whole "you lose your kingdom cuz your wife loves another man" plot is infuriating.  It's astonishingly stupid that pretty much all of King Arthur's problems are apparently because of non-marital sex.  For people with no problem with open relationships or childless marriages or pre-marital sex, the whole Tragedy of Arthur is pretty much a farce.  So despite my love, there are very few Arthurian tales I actually *like*: Mary Stewart's Crystal Cave series, Jo Walton's King series, the first two-thirds of The Once and Future King, a few others.  (And god, if you have other recommendations, PLEASE give them to me.)  The BBC's new "Merlin" has steered pretty clear of romance thus far, so they've avoided the usual pitfalls.  But Alas!

Spoilery thoughts on the 2.04 episode of "Merlin" below the cut.
People.  If you actually love someone, but you're worried about some part of the relationship, the answer is not to pretend you have no feelings for the person and abandon them.  It's not noble.  It's stupid and it doesn't make you look like you care much about your supposed "beloved".  If you did, you'd actually take their own feelings and opinions into consideration.  Arthur, if you're worried that Gwen might not want to wait to be your love-bunny until you're king, maybe you should ASK HER?  And Lancelot, if you're worried that Gwen might not want to marry a poor knight--well, that's not just your decision to make.  It's hers too.  You don't get to act like Fate Has Ripped Us Apart.  YOU ripped that relationship apart, because you were too busy making decisions For Her Own Good.

Thank goodness Merlin at least sees how stupid this is, otherwise I'd have no hope for this show.

Comments

[valtyr]

I know this is an old post, but if you haven't read the Stephen Lawhead Arthurian novels, I think you might like them - Taliesin, Merlin, and Arthur. There is no Guinevere/Lancelot romance. It's very epic in feel, very rich language, and it starts in Atlantis - it takes a while to get to Arthur, though, I don't think he's born until almost the end of the second book. (There's also Pendragon and Grail but I found them more forgettable.)

[wealhtheow]

Ooh, thanks for the recommendation! I've seen those books in the library, but have gotten so sick of poor adaptations/renditions that I never picked them up. Which is first--is it Taliesin?

[valtyr]

Yup, Taliesin. Oh, I should say it does have a lot of Christian themes, but I didn't find them old-school or overwhelmingly sexist. I mean, it's set during the Celtic/Roman period, so there is sexism, but I didn't find the Christian themes too oppressive.