The once and Future king
...s, thoughts, and concerns remain mysterious, and it is hard to gauge his commitment to his principles. Throughout the novel, we hear him repeat Merlyn’s ideas and beliefs about government and power, and once Nimue captures Merlyn, Arthur’s beliefs no longer develop. It would appear that Arthur is unable to generate ideas without the help of his mentor, but in Book IV, Arthur does arrive at some original conclusions. For example, he concludes that national boundaries are the source of conflicts and that if they could be abolished, war would disappear as well. This idea about the nature of conflict seems to be his own, which suggests that Arthur does finally learn to think for himself. Unfortunately, however, Arthur’s timing is poor. Now that he has developed his own ideas, he will die the next day. Even if he were not to die, he would still be too powerless to implement any of his ideas. The futility of his situation undermines the significance of his last thoughts. Power is of the individual mind, but the mind’s power is not enough. Power of the body decides everything in the end, and only Might is Right. The Great pike, king of the fish in Sir Ector’s moat, speaks these words to the Wart in Book I, Chapter 5, after Merlyn transforms the Wart into a fish. The great pike presents a simplistic view of power and the nature of leadership. He insists that power is a value in itself, to be sought and exercised for its own sake and instituted by physical force. The Wart’s discussion with the pike is his first exposure to a philosophy of government that emphasizes force. The Wart responds to the pike’s views with disgust, which suggests that he has the potential to be a just, good ruler. This quote is also important because it presents the vocabulary of power and morality that will dominate Arthur’s mind for the rest of his life. He begins to consider the relationship between “Might” and “Right,” and to criticize the status quo of English society. Arthur’s firsthand experience with the pike’s style of leadership motivates him to be a different type of ruler and to formulate a new type of philosophy about war and justice. Why can’t you harness Might so that it works for Right?… The Might is there, in the bad half of people, and you can’t neglect it. Arthur utters these words in a speech from Book II, Chapter 6, in which he first articulates the philosophy that is to make him such a great ruler. He synthesizes the lessons he has learned from Merlyn and decides to use his new position of king to harness physical force to establish morality. He expresses his belief that the proper function of power is to subordinate might to right. This idea may seem simplistic to modern readers, but White presents a medieval world in which force is blindly equated with justice and shows that it is truly innovative for Arthur to draw a distinction between power and justice. Essentially, White shows that Arthur is a king worth remembering not for his heroism or his military exploits, but because he champions the idea of civilized society. He recognizes that all people have a good side and a bad side and thinks his political philosophy will allow him to harness people’s bad sides for the common good. For example, knights who long to fight will still be able to fight, but they will fight against those who do evil deeds rather than fight for its own sake. FULL TITLE • The Once and Future King AUTHOR • T. H. (Terence Hanbury) White TYPE OF WORK • Novel GENRE • Fantasy; heroic epic; satire LANGUAGE • English TIME AND PLACE WRITTEN • England; 1936–1958 DATE OF FIRST PUBLICATION • 1958. The four books that make up the novel were previously published separately: “The Sword in the Stone” in 1938; “The Queen of Air and Darkness” (published as The Witch in the Wood) in 1939; “The Ill-Made Knight” in 1940; and “The Candle in the Wind” in 1958. PUBLISHER • G. P. Putnam’s Sons NARRATOR • The narrator speaks in the third person and is omniscient, or all-knowing. The narrator has access to the thoughts of all the characters and provides commentary on the context of the work, as in the references to Adolf Hitler, Uncle Sam, and Sir Thomas Malory. POINT OF VIEW • In general, the novel oscillates among the points of view of Arthur, Lancelot, and Guenever, though it occasionally assumes the point of view of minor characters such as Elaine and Gawaine. TONE • The tone changes throughout the four books of the novel. It is playful and satirical in the first book, but gradually grows darker and more serious TENSE • Past SETTING (TIME) • The era of King Arthur, a legendary figure in the folklore of medieval England SETTING (PLACE) • Medieval England and France PROTAGONIST • Arthur, who is called the Wart in Book I, is the protagonist of most of the novel, but Lancelot is the protagonist of the third book. MAJOR CONFLICT • Arthur struggles to transform feudal England into a civilized country in which strength does not overwhelm justice. RISING ACTION • Lancelot’s destructive love affair with Guenever; the jealous conspiracies of the Orkney fact...