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Arthur, chivalry & knights in 20th century imagination
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Knights & Cyborgs in 20th century imagination King Arthur, Comic book Superheroes, Sci-fi Knights & Cyborgs with Lightsabers
Arthur revived • In the 19th century, there was reawakened interest in King Arthur and the medieval romances. A new code of ethics for 19th-century gentlemen was shaped around the chivalric ideals embodied in the "Arthur of romance". This renewed interest first made itself felt in 1816, when Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur was reprinted for the first time since 1634
Alfred Tennyson • Published his Arthurian poem "The Lady of Shalott" in 1832. Tennyson's Arthurian work reached its peak of popularity with Idylls of the King, however, which reworked the entire narrative of Arthur's life for the Victorian era. It was first published in 1859 and sold 10,000 copies within the first week.
In Victorian America • The revived Arthurian romance also proved influential in the United States, with such books as Sidney Lanier's The Boy's King Arthur (1880) reaching wide audiences and providing inspiration for Mark Twain's satire A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889).
King Arthur illustration by Charles Ernest Butler (1903) • Tennyson had reworked the romance tales of Arthur to suit and comment upon the issues of his day, and the same is often the case with the many modern treatments that followed.
In the latter half of the 20th century • the romance tradition of Arthur continued, through novels such as T. H. White's The Once and Future King (1958), Thomas Berger's tragicomic Arthur Rex and Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon (1982) in addition to comic strips such as Prince Valiant (from 1937 onward).Bradley's tale takes a feminist approach to Arthur and his legend. Other American authors have reworked the story of Arthur to be more consistent with values such as equality and democracy.[
The romance of Arthur was popular in film and theatre as well • T. H. White's novel was adapted into the Lerner and Loewe stage musical Camelot (1960) and Walt Disney's animated film The Sword in the Stone (1963); Camelot, with its focus on the love of Lancelot and Guinevere and the betrayal of Arthur, was itself made into a film of the same name in 1967. Other films followed. Robert Bresson's Lancelot du Lac (1974), Éric Rohmer's Perceval le Gallois (1978) and John Boorman's Excalibur (1981); as well as the Arthurian spoof Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975).
JFK and Camelot • in the last half of the 20th century the idea of Camelot was powerful, and, after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, the name was used as a term to describe the years of his presidency.
In 1977 author Michael Uslan stated the following about the nature of comic books. • "From the 1930s through today comic books have expressed the trends, conventions, and concerns of American life. Comics have been a showcase for national views, slang, morals, customs, traditions, racial attitudes, fads, heroes of the day, and everything else that make up our lifestyles."
Comic books as we know them today arrived in the late 1930s. • In June 1938 Action Comic Number 1 premiered and released and exposed Superman to the world, the character who encapsulated all that was good about America and humanity. And he became a star as the result of this issue. Other characters soon followed, including the Human Torch, Batman, the Sub-Mariner, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, The Shield, and of course Captain America.
Superman became popular for many reasons. • Like many Americans, Superman was an immigrant, albeit from an alien world. You could argue that Superman was the ultimate immigrant being away from his parents and his family. Secondly, Superman espoused the virtues of hard work, justice, and truth; a modern-day code of chivalry for the world of the 1930s, which was experiencing the Great Depression.
The prophesy that King Arthur will return has come true again and again. • Today he coincides with comic book heroes. This legendary icon of Western civilization lives again in the popular culture novels of contemporary and futuristic literature. While the king’s personality has changed little since Malory, the monarch is now often found as a superhero in new world settings: he has become a Celtic space traveler among the stars, a modern politician fighting corruption, a WWII fighter pilot, a battler of aliens, and even returns as a teenage boy.
In the 1980s comic Camelot 3000, Arthur has a limited understanding of what constitutes evil in the modern world • so that despite his worthy character as a role model, his grasp of action required to overcome injustice constitutes a major shortcoming.
Wherever he goes, King Arthur • encounters a variety of evil opponents from his medieval past as well as futuristic aliens and monsters. The authors and publishers of Arthurian popular culture have commodified the Arthurian legend, turning the king into an Americanized romantic superhero who overcomes his opponents but mostly fails to meet the reality of modern socio-economic challenges.
Alongside comic books in the 1940s • the hero is being examined across time & cultural boundaries and new forms of language are being developed for describing technological systems
Cybernetics to Cyborg to Cyber • Cybernetics coined by scientists led by Norbert Wiener who wrote Cybernetics or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine (1948). • "Cyber" describes person, thing, or idea as part of computer and information age from kybernetes, Greek for "steersman" or "governor,“ usages include cyborg, cyberculture, cyberpunk, and cyberspace.
Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) • was a world-renowned mythologist who helped modern society understand the true power that storytelling has in our culture and within our personal lives. • Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949)
George Lucas • was an avid admirer of Joseph Campbell's writings, and used them as a direct reference in his creation of Star Wars.
New Myths for New Realities • Knights in a galaxy far, far away with a code of honor & justice, fighting with lightsabers instead of swords, flying starfighters instead of riding horses
Jedi Knights, • like the Order they served, were guardians of peace and justice in the Galactic Republic, and served in key military command roles during the Clone Wars. At the war's end, Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine—secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious—issued Order 66, declaring every Jedi an enemy of the state.
Darth Vader • Is a cyborg - his mortal wounds healed; his broken body augmented by technology. He is also a failed Jedi knight who has gone over to the dark side.
Luke Skywalker Darth Vader’s son is trained by Obi wan Kenobi to fight with a lightsaber and become a Jedi knight
Chivalry • Dictionary. com's definition: “the sum of the ideal qualifications of a knight, including courtesy, generosity, valor, and dexterity in arms.” • Chivalry Today's Definition: “In short… chivalry is — a choice. The choice to do the right things, for the right reasons, at the right times.” • How do we know what the right thing is?
What is a knight for today and the future? More than just better weapons and technology
Making the right choices • The tools and weapons change • The moral questions remain
