이동춘: 말로리 (Thomas
Malory)의 “개러쓰의 이야기” (the Tale of Gareth)의 사회적 의미: 사회적 신분, 사랑과 결혼,
공동체를 중심으로 pages 97 ~ 122
[Lee Dong-chun: Social Meanings of Thomas Malory’s Tale of Gareth:
Social Status, Love and Marriage, and Community
Abstract
The fourth large division of Le Morte Darthur, the Tale of Gareth
presents the arrival of “the goodlyest yonge man and the fayreste”
that the court of Arthur has ever seen. As an independent,
self-contained romance, the Tale of Gareth is used as the
portrayal of Arthur’s Round Table at the height of its power and
glory. In addition, Gareth is depicted as an index to the noblest
elements of the chivalric ideal. He serves as a standard against
which the behaviors of the members of Camelot including Gawain and
Lancelot are to be measured. Not only through the chivalric
qualities that Gareth shows, but in terms of social class, love,
marriage and so on, which the late Medieval society holds about,
Malory makes the character of Gareth as ideal. Gareth in the tale
never overtly challenges the basic assumptions of social class and
marriage that were accepted by the nobility of Malory’s times.
Concerning social class and status, Malory shows that nobility is
an inborn quality but that it may not automatically guarantee
‘gentyllnesse.’ Moreover, Malory presents married love as an
appropriate conclusion to the romance of Gareth. In light of
fifteenth-century marriage practice, the Gareth Romance reflects
the specific concerns of the noble class regarding marriage.
Gareth’s ideal marriage ultimately serves to drive his family as
well as the community of Camelot to the state of harmony and
cohesion. In order to put an emphasis on social class, love and
marriage, the cohesion of community in the tale, Malory employs
the stylistic techniques such as the structural and verbal
repetition and the incremental process, which are commonly used in
the narratives like a popular romance or a folk tale.
Key words
말로리, “개러쓰의 이야기, ” 사회적 신분, 결혼, 공동체
The Tale of Gareth, Chivalry, Social Status, Marriage, Community