Guiding Lights: Feminine Judgment and Wisdom in Malory’s Morte Darthur

From minor figures to the Morte’s most important female characters, women assess and judge in matters of social and courtly behavior, chivalry, love, and morality. Furthermore, Malory opens and closes his work with a female model of noble action who influences other characters and his readers while underscoring his major themes. Malory’s treatment of these female characters demonstrates the importance of the feminine in the Morte.