Malory's world explored, from the battle of Towton to the "grete bokes" of chivalric material composd for aristocratic families.Many aspects of Malory's Morte Darthur reflect contemporary literary and social issues, and it is this topic which forms the focus for the eight essays in the volume, all by leading Malory scholars. Terence McCarthy suggests that the Morte was a book that came at the wrong time, and which we have admired for the wrong reasons. Andrew Lynch and D. Thomas Hanks Jr argue that Malory questions his culture's ideology of arms; Karen Cherewatuk andKevin Grimm discuss the manuscript and printed contexts of the Morte. Robert Kelly examines some of the political elements of the Morte; Ann Elaine Bliss points out the role of processions in Malory's time and in theMorte; and P.J.C. Field compares the Morte's final battle to elements of the Battle of Towton (1461), finding strong similarities between the two.

As Hanks and Jesmok note in their introduction, "pursuing opponents and pursuing love move the Morte's narrative, but the work's richness comes from its romance and tragic elements: the human quest for maturity and fulfillment and those uncontrollable forces that undermine the quest and destroy the dream. Malory's use of myth and magic to explore these themes has received extensive scholarly attention, but his views on and thematic use of Christianity have long needed a closer look."

Malory's world explored, from the battle of Towton to the "grete bokes" of chivalric material composd for aristocratic families.Many aspects of Malory's Morte Darthur reflect contemporary literary and social issues, and it is this topic which forms the focus for the eight essays in the volume, all by leading Malory scholars. Terence McCarthy suggests that the Morte was a book that came at the wrong time, and which we have admired for the wrong reasons. Andrew Lynch and D. Thomas Hanks Jr argue that Malory questions his culture's ideology of arms; Karen Cherewatuk andKevin Grimm discuss the manuscript and printed contexts of the Morte. Robert Kelly examines some of the political elements of the Morte; Ann Elaine Bliss points out the role of processions in Malory's time and in theMorte; and P.J.C. Field compares the Morte's final battle to elements of the Battle of Towton (1461), finding strong similarities between the two.

As Hanks and Jesmok note in their introduction, "pursuing opponents and pursuing love move the Morte's narrative, but the work's richness comes from its romance and tragic elements: the human quest for maturity and fulfillment and those uncontrollable forces that undermine the quest and destroy the dream. Malory's use of myth and magic to explore these themes has received extensive scholarly attention, but his views on and thematic use of Christianity have long needed a closer look."