A Woman of Legend: The Once and Future Queen Guinevere
“Queen Guinevere’s Maying” by John Collier
Everyone knows the story, or has at least heard references to the Arthurian legend. Do King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, the wizard Merlin, or the sword in the stone ring any bells? Amazingly, the legend has been passed down, revised and retold for thousands of years (kind of like a popular fanfiction). I myself didn’t know much about it until I watched the hysterical and oh-so-quotable film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (it’s just a flesh wound!). One aspect of the story that I remained unfamiliar with up until recently was the tale of Arthur’s wife and queen, Guinevere. What? He had a queen? He was married? Who knew!
It wasn’t until I watched the BBC show Merlin that I became aware a Guinevere ever existed in the story, and I can’t say enough good things about this portrayal of the character. For starters, she is played by Angel Colby, who is both a brilliant actress and a woman of color. Yes, you heard that right: a marginalized female character takes a prominent role on this show, and I’m not joking when I say prominent. She appears in all sixty-five episodes and undergoes a huge transformation throughout five seasons. These choices show that Colby’s acting skills are valued higher than any ridiculous desire to whitewash the character, and they call attention to a deeper study of Guinevere. She is not brushed off as a plot device; instead, she is given her own storyline. After watching the show and doing a little research on the origins of the legend, it is safe to say that this modern version serves as a major contrast to Guinevere’s (or Gwenhwyfar, which is what she was called in the early Welsh tales) original role.
Angel Colby as Gwen
Although this is probably up for much debate, it is said that Guinevere is first mentioned in the legend through her betrothal to Arthur. There are many different stories relating to how she came to marry Arthur, and in one Welsh poem it is even said that he had three wives, all with very similar names. As it goes with any medieval romance, we don’t know much about her as a person or her life before her marriage. Instead, we know that she is rescued by Arthur in more than one tale, often taking on the “damsel in distress” role. Those who are more familiar with Guinevere than I initially was probably know her for her most popular part in the story: an infamous affair with Sir Lancelot, Arthur’s favorite and most trusted knight (oh, the scandal!). To dig the knife in deeper, this act of infidelity supposedly brings about the fall of Camelot and Arthur’s defeat. How this comes to be is, of course, presented through several conflicted retellings and there is no single consensus as to how the affair played out.
Lancelot doesn’t make his first appearance in the legend until the works of Chretien de Troyes come along around 1175. Guinevere, on the other hand, is first introduced around 1100, so it is unsurprising to discover that after her introduction, a new addition to the story would give her a “purpose” and a place in the plot: to further the male story lines. She becomes the seductress who enchants Lancelot, and the deceiver who betrays Arthur. However, her actions still have a large role in the story since they seem to cause the downfall of an entire kingdom, and the mysterious nature of her character makes her captivating. As hundreds of years passed and the story grew and evolved, Guinevere grew with it and more and more authors not only began to experiment with the depth of her character, but with answering questions as to how she felt and why she acted the way she did. In the old legends, she was often simply viewed as a cruel and heartless villain. Modern versions aim to take a closer look before casting her into this mold, and often show more of her internal conflict.
Merlin, for instance, doesn’t include Guinevere’s character for the single purpose of betrayal. She starts out as a kind and humble maid to Lady Morgana (Arthur’s half-sister) and a close friend to the wizard Merlin. More complex than Gwenhwyfar of the legends, she counsels her friends with wisdom and stands up for what is right. Her journey from lower class citizen to a confident, clever queen is the focus of her story. At the beginning, she has no real interest in Arthur, as she sees him as an arrogant and spoiled prince, and this allows time for her character to grow on her own. Over time Arthur does a lot of maturing, though, and they eventually develop trust in each other as well as love. When the Lancelot drama becomes somewhat turbulent in season four, it is hardly what you would expect. Gwen, as she is often nicknamed in the show, is enchanted to fall for Lancelot rather than betray Arthur of her own will. This twist might not be ideal as it raises some problematic questions about agency and consent (after all, she is forced to pursue Lancelot). At the same time, it also shows that our perception of Guinevere has changed. She is no longer one-dimensional. The writers, being storytellers of the Arthurian legend for a new generation, knew their version of Guinevere would not betray anyone, so they had to re-imagine the story to fit her character rather than re-imagine her character in order to service a scandalous subplot.
Like a never-ending game of telephone, the Arthurian legend has been added to and altered so many times that there is hardly anything concrete about it. Arthur has been a popular figure and military hero for thousands of years, but Camelot and the Round Table weren’t even added until later. There is not just one legend, but hundreds, and with every version comes a thousand new ways to interpret it. In a way, that is the beauty of the story. Historians have debated whether or not Arthur ever existed, but like most histories and legends, not many pause to consider the stories of women like Guinevere. Luckily, as time passes her part in the legend begins to come to light in new ways. Once, she was just a pawn to advance the story of the king. Now, she is and will continue to be a complex, equal piece on the board. The Queen, in fact.
Disclaimer: All images are used here for criticism and analysis only. Images from Merlin are property of the BBC, Johnny Capps, Julian Jones, Jake Michie and Julian Murphy. “Queen Guinevere’s Maying” is property of John Collier. Information on Queen Guinevere and the Arthurian legend comes from extensive research presented by Jimmy Joe at Timeless Myths.
Merlin’s fifth and final season ended on May 31st, 2013, and the full show is now available to stream on Netflix. For more information about Guinevere and the Arthurian legend, visit timelessmyths.com.
Originally published at medium.com on December 18, 2014.
