NOTES ON KING ARTHUR.
As to the choice of the heir, there is no authoritative
note, but I have a vague memory that Borre, the
child of Lionors, who had been educated by the good
and wise Taliesin, was to be named heir. Borre appears
as a charming child in the first play, the “Marriage
of Guenevere,” and without appearing, he became
a strong dramatic figure in the lost manuscript,
where his mother, the lady Lionors, is being wrought
upon by Morgause in the depth of her wicked revel on
the occasion of the temptation of Lamoracke. Here
most dramatic words pass between the mother and
Morgause, the insolent temptress of the youth.
Borre's name is first introduced by Morgause when,
before the marriage, she eases her hatred of Arthur
by hinting to Guenevere that he is not all she might
have pictured in her ideal, referring to the lady
Lionors and her child, and linking her name by
innuendo with that of Arthur.
The play of King Arthur was to contain a final
conflict in the mind of the honor-tortured Launcelot,
between his love and his friendship. He had lost
no time in rescuing Guenevere after Arthur had
executed the law of the land by condemning her to
be burnt—that being the punishment for high treason
in queens. For more than twenty years Arthur had
refused to listen to rumors or in any way doubt
Guenevere, but once proven in guilt by Mordred and
his associates, Arthur, who stood for public justice,
condemned her. After the rescue, Launcelot, who
puts personal loyalty before the law, felt that Guenevere
was now his. He took her to Joyous Gard,
which was the court of his father's kingdom before
the kings gave up their thrones to join Arthur's
Round Table.
Arthur besieged Joyous Gard to recapture Guenevere.
Launcelot unhesitatingly defended the place
against Arthur. When, however, he knew that Mordred
had seized the throne and that Arthur must
turn back to defend himself again Mordred, he went
forth to Arthur's assistance, but not without a great
conflict between his desire to loyally see justice done
to Arthur against Mordred, and his anger, probably
the greatest anger of his knightly life, against the
man who had condemned Guenevere to torturing
death by fire.
To Launcelot right was above the law. To Arthur
the law was above any view of right or wrong. To
Dubric, the priest, we remember, the Church was
above either. And these three classes continue to
this day, the Arthurs, the Launcelots, the Dubrics.
A great jurist has said: “He who taketh the law
of the land for his sole guide is neither a good
neighbor nor an honest man.” In this discussion
Guenevere joins. Guenevere could see Launcelot defend
her but not revenge her. She urges him to do
the generous deed. Bors also belongs to this scene;
the noble, frank cousin who from the first and always
stood his ideals and Launcelot side by side.
To Launcelot there was but one crime to be done
in the name of love, and that was love itself. Love
must inspire to all good deeds, to sacrifice, to generosity,
to forgiveness. So he goes to Arthur's rescue.
The plot of King Arthur is indicated in the scenario.
The first scene is written. Of the second scene,
being the love scene upon which Mordred breaks, we
have but a few lines. It was planned to show the development
and beauty of love after the passage of all
those years, after the experiences of absence, sorrow,
remorse, the attempt at renunciation, after the wounding
and healing of the discord of jealousy. We do not
know how the author would in this scene have shown
a greater love than that pictured in the temptation
of Launcelot in “The Birth of Galahad,” but we
know that was what he was to do. From this time
on Launcelot's love would be expressed by deeds, the
rescue and so forth, and Guenevere's by her defense
of herself in court and her general nobility of attitude
in all matters, showing that her love being good
had made her good—more, noble. A noble love develops
itself and its lovers, ever to higher possibilities;
or, if it be destroyed, to ever higher loves. This
theory of the ever-growing beauty of love was a central
theme in the “Poem in Dramas.”
The trial scene would have been Guenevere's greatest
scene in the series. Here her greatness and goodness
must all have been shown to stand in contrast
with the power of the law over her. It was long
discussed whether the rescue should be from the
court scene, to avoid falling into physical drama if it
took place at the fire scene. But the court scene had
to stop at a moral climax, the characters being
Arthur, Guenevere, and the Law.
The death of Arthur in personal conflict with
Mordred, each at the end of the battle killing the
other, and Launcelot's too late arrival occupies the
foreground when Guenevere, in the falling darkness
enters with the monks, who, carrying torches,
go about to shrive the dying and bury the dead.
So the tragedy remains. Arthur is dead, and sorrow
has fallen upon all the land. Only in Avalon
“the place of peace,” can we look for those resolutions
of discord which the spirit of man still awaits.
DIGEST OF KING ARTHUR MADE UP FROM THE FRAGMENTS AND STRAY NOTES LEFT BY MR. HOVEY.
Near Camelot—Sunset.
Rocky gorge. Mountains. The Hunt. Mordred
and Gawaine. Morgana and Mordred. Witchcraft.
(Scene written.)
Camelot—Night.
Interior of tower. Launcelot and Guenevere. Love
scene. The interruption. Escape of Launcelot. Mordred's
love for Guenevere. Entrance of conspirators.
Return and capture of Guenevere.
Camelot—Next Day.
Great hall. Trial scene. The stake. The rescue.
Camelot—The Great Hall.
Mordred and Morgana. The council. The war
against Launcelot. The naming of the heir. “No
son? I am your son.” Mordred's resentment. Mordred
determines revenge. The Saxon.
Gard—Next Day.
The battlements. Launcelot and Guenevere. Their
justification. The approach of Arthur's army.
Camelot—Night.
A room. Carouse of Kaye and Dagonet. Treachery
of Mordred, who remains with Kaye and betrays
him to the Saxon. Mordred is proclaimed
King. Capture of Kaye. Escape of Dagonet.
Joyous Gard—Next Day.
Arthur's tent. Gawaine's death. Dagonet. Arthur
learns from Dagonet of Mordred's revolt and
raises siege.
Mordred's Camp—Night.
Witchcraft.
Joyous Gard—Dawn.
The battlements. The ghost of Gawaine. Launcelot
to the rescue. Launcelot furious at Arthur's
treatment of Guenevere. Guenevere persuades him
to go. Bors.
The Battlefield—Nightfall.
The last battle, etc. Death of Mordred and Arthur.
When Launcelot arrives, Mordred is dead
and Arthur dying. Entrance of Guenevere. “The
three queens.”