William Morris: Day 1

"'I dared not think, as I was wont to do, / Sometimes, upon my beauty . . .'" (ll.119-20)
"The Defence of Guenevere" (1859)

Points of Reflection

1. hero or villain? Exonerated or condemned? Sympathetic or worthy of disdain? How does William Morris' characterize King Arthur's unfaithful wife, Guinevere, in "The Defence of Guenevere"?

2. is Guinevere's case convincing? What tools does she employ in her self-defense?

3. trace the shifts in Guinevere's voice--her volume as well as her tone.

4. does the narrator himself betray his opinion of Guinevere at any point?

5. to what thoughts might Lancelot be referring when he says to himself "No -- back again, the other thoughts will rise . . ." (King Arthur's Tomb, l.36)?

6. note the various colors Morris uses throughout "King Arthur's Tomb," and consider their symbolic value.

7. Lancelot labels Guinevere "mad" when she claims that they can no longer be lovers (ll.197-200). Does the poem support his conclusion?

8. why does Guinevere level such a blast of criticism at Lancelot towards the poem's end (ll.368-87)?

"The Knight Errant" ( )
John Everett Millais

Paul Marchbanks
marchban@email.unc.edu