The Mists of Avalon

Prominent Characters in Part 1:

Viviane - the Lady of the Lake

Igraine - Viviane's younger sister

Morgaine - Igraine's daughter

Morgause - Igraine and Viviane's younger sister

Uther Pendragon - married to Igraine

Arthur - child of Igraine and Uther, the future King of England

Courtney Hyndman:

This book takes the Arthurian legend and places it in the perspective of a woman. From the traditional male-centered tales of war and triumph, The Mists of Avalon is taking Arthurian legend and portraying it in a whole new way. In this first part of the novel we see are seeing through Igraine’s eyes. She is the younger sister of the Lady of the Lake, Viviane, and she is the wife of the Duke of Cornwall, Gorlois. Igraine is also the mother of Morgaine, also known as Morgan Le Fay, and the soon to be King Arthur. Viviane visits Igraine in the very beginning of the novel with Merlin to tell Igraine of her fate to be with Uther Pendragon and to bear the next heir to the throne, Arthur. Igraine leaves her home with Gorlois to meet the dying Ambrosius, who is the High King for now and Uther, where she eventually has small encounters with Uther Pendragon, which Gorlois does not like for obvious reasons. Part one ends with the crowing of Arthur after sleeping with his sister Morgaine and impregnating her with a child, the future High King, Arthur. The events that occur in this novel are like that of what we read in Le Morte Darthur. There are certain aspects of what happened in that book that are a replicated in this novel with a different twist. This novel takes you on adventures of love, battles, and deceit. I strongly recommend reading this novel if you want to read something from a different perspective than expected.  

Monica Martin

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley is based on the Arthurian legends that have been seen in literature for centuries.  The difference in this novel is that for the first time we are able to see the point of view of many of the women of Camelot.  Viviane, The Lady of the Lake is the high priestess of Avalon, and her younger sister Igraine is fated by The Goddess to bare Uther Pendragon’s child, Arthur.  The book begins before Igraine has even met Uther, and Viviane uses her Sight to complete the prophesy of Arthur’s conception.  We are able to see not only the way women thought during this time, but also how they were able to control everyone’s fate.  Viviane does anything in her power to keep this prophecy on course, and Igraine’s elder daughter Morgaine becomes a priestess in Avalon under the teachings of Viviane.  Morgaine loves Viviane like a mother, but in order to keep the prophecy on track a major betrayal has to occur between Viviane and Morgaine.  Power, and the future of Avalon is all that really matters to Viviane, and by the end of the first book Arthur has just been crowned as king, and received Excalibur, a sword forged by Morgaine, that will keep him safe from mortal wounds in all battles.  Arthur will take council from both Merlin, and The Bishop of Glastonbury, and vows to protect Avalon.  Viviane sees the future she wants lying out before her, but Arthur may not be able to live up to her expectations.  I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Arthurian Literature.  It gives the fables, and legends, but in a way that keeps the story interesting. 

Sarah Ignatuk

The Mists of Avalon Review

            I definitely recommend this book. Almost everything we read during class this semester was either written by a man or from a man’s perspective and the fact that this book is told from a female point of view makes it much more interesting to me. In traditional Arthurian stories, the men of the book do all of the fighting and scheming and in The Mists of Avalon, we get inside the heads of Arthurian women and find out that they hold all of the power. In the very beginning, Igraine finds out that she is destined to give birth to the future king, Arthur. Unlike other stories we have covered, we see how she actually feels about her situation. She is told that she has to betray her husband when all she ever wanted to do was give him a son. She was born into the Old Way but married into Christianity and this vision that Merlin shows her forces her to choose a side. Another way that the women hold the power in this story is shown when Goloris, Duke of Cornwall and Igraine’s husband, starts a fight with Uther and battles with him instead of focusing on what is really important: the Saxons invading his land. Other women we encounter include Viviane, Morgaine and Morgause. Viviane manipulates everyone around her and her power made me like her in the beginning, but she takes her power too far and becomes kind of repulsive. Overall, the first part of this book was a good read and all of the magical elements and powerful women definitely keep it interesting. 

Caroline DuBreuil:

      I thought that The Mists of Avalon gave a really cool and interesting take on the tale of King Arthur. One of my favorite aspects of the novel was how it was told from a female perspective. It was interesting to see how women felt about their roles in the court as well as their position is society. Throughout most of the literature we have read in this class we were able to see the struggle knights held between duty and love. However, in this book we were able to see how women struggled with their sense of duty as well. The first female character we see this struggle occur with is Igrine. Igraine is married to the Duke of Gorloris and seems content with her marriage. When her sister Viviane arrives she tells Igraine that she deliver another man's son because Gorloris is a Christian. Her child is going to be the savior of the old religion. Igraine is upset because she felt that she has already done her duty as a woman and was forced into a marriage already. Although she struggles back and forth with her decision she ultimately chooses to bear a child with Uther Pendragon and gives birth to Arthur. It was refreshing to see the struggle between the balance of duty and love through a female perspective and I thought it added a lo to the novel. Another aspect of the novel that I liked was the use of magic. The novel contented many visions, spells, and use of enchantment. Although some of the other books we have read have used hints of magic I thought it was interesting how most of the magic in the novel was used to manipulate others. Merlin and Viviane are experts at using their magic to get their way and often harm other while doing it. For example in order to ensure the future that Viviane has envisioned she manipulates Morgaine into sleeping with her half-brother Arthur. It is a pretty upsetting and disturbing scene and the readers feel terrible for poor Morgaine. If anyone is interested in Arthurian Literature I would certainly recommend this book because it gives such a refreshing and unique take on the classic Arthur tales. 

Caitlin Liberati

I am slightly notorious for favoring works of literature that have strong female characters. That is why I enjoyed The Mists of Avalon so much. Everything that we have read this semester, with the exception of the works from Marie de France, has been written by a man. Even works written by women contained primarily male characters and little to no mention of female characters. With Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley delivers the story of King Arthur in a much needed female point of view. From the beginning, we are introduced to many different female characters and we see everything from their perspective; the male characters are only mentioned if necessary. An example of this is with Viviane and Igraine. Viviane, the Lady of the Lake, has foretold a marriage between her sister Igraine and Uther Pendragon; this marriage, of course, produces Arthur, who will become King. For the first time in all retellings of this story, we get to see Igraine’s reaction to this news. This is something that I enjoyed, because while the male points of view in other works are interesting, the female characters deserve just as much of a voice. Aside from Igraine’s perspective, we are also given insight into Morgaine’s descent into magic at the hands of Viviane. The first part of the book ends after Arthur and Morgaine have laid together, and it is an interesting place to end. Overall, the novel is well-written and truly delivers in terms of excitement, love, and magic. It is a great read, though a bit lengthy, but I would recommend it to anybody who enjoys the stories of King Arthur and wants to view them in a different way.