The Dimensions Of "Justice" In Malory's Morte Darthur

Morte Darthur is one of the earliest masterpieces of prose fiction in the history of English literature, as well as the cornerstone work that first sets apart an English writer of Arthurian romance from his Continental counterparts. Written by Sir Thomas Malory in the fifteenth century, Morte Darthur depicts a chivalric society that has a unique set of political, military, moral and religious value system upon which a complicated network of etiquettes and behavior codes are based. One topic that is constantly echoed throughout the book is the conception of justice, its many layers of concrete meanings in a literary chivalric world, and its constantly unsteady and open-ended status. This author of this thesis intends to explore the various dimensions of justice in Morte Darthur in the hope that this will shed light upon Malory's understanding of the much mystified chivalric life within an ancient romance tradition, and consequently help the readers to better understand Malory's role in English prose fiction, as well as the typography of Middle English literature in the late Middle Age.The author will mainly discuss two large categories of justice here, namely worldly justice and divine justice. Worldly justice is further divided into warfare justice, justice of revenge and justice in courtly love, corresponding to the three most important aspects of secular chivalric life. The study of divine justice is primarily carried out through a close reading of the Tale of the Sangreal of Morte Darthur, which is Malory's version of the famous quest of the Holy Grail.