Keywords

Chivalry, Medieval, Knight, Round Table, Sir Thomas Malory

Abstract

This thesis investigates how, within Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur, the concept of chivalry as a literary construct is misunderstood and misrepresented by the knights who attempt to uphold it. Through a close reading of Le Morte, this paper concludes that Malory presents chivalry not as a coherent moral code, but as a paradoxical system that both promotes and undermines the values it claims to uphold. While chivalry is typically meant to emphasize honor, loyalty, and spiritual devotion, Malory’s narrative reveals how these ideals are compromised by structures of masculine competition, performative identity, homosocial desire, and corrupted brotherhood. These forces prioritize reputation and male bonding over humility and Christian ethics, leading to a destabilization of both the moral and spiritual foundations of Camelot. Drawing on medieval gender studies, queer theory, and ethical criticism, this project engages with frameworks such as homosocial desire and the role of women as mediators within patriarchal systems. It identifies a critical gap in existing scholarships by demonstrating how these social and erotic dynamics are not merely present, but actively detrimental to Camelot’s spiritual mission; chivalric brotherhood, above all, emerges as both the sustaining force and the fatal flaw within Arthurian society. Organized into four chapters, this thesis explores chivalry as a performance, analyzes homosocial desire within the knightly order, investigates spiritual corruption, and culminates in a collapse surrounding Arthur’s death. Each section in turn builds towards the central claim that the fall of the Round Table was not the result of an individual moral failure, but instead the structural consequence of a system rooted in sin. Ultimately, this study reframes chivalry as a dynamic and unstable construct, offering insight into how medieval ideals continue to both resonate with and unravel in a contemporary discourse.

Completion Date

2026

Semester

Spring

Committee Chair

Shack, Joseph

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

English

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Identifier

DP0053229

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