Morgan le Fay, Shapeshifter by Jill M. Hebert (review)

Jill M. Hebert presents a comprehensive study of the character of Morgan le Fay from the earliest texts in the Middle Ages through the meaning of her absence in the Victorian era to her incarnations in contemporary fantasy. Hebert emphasizes the variability of Morgan, arguing that ‘She is not the “Eve” side of the Ave/Eve opposition; rather she embodies characteristics and behaviors that cannot be classified by simple-minded dichotomies’ (p. 3).

In Chapter One, Hebert examines Morgan’s role in the Latin sources including Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Vita Merlini and Gerald of Wales’ Speculum Ecclesiae and De Principis. Generally, in these sources Hebert sees, in contrast to earlier scholars, a more sinister role for Morgan than simply a benign healer. For example, she argues that in Geoffrey’s Vita there is at least a hint that Morgan is taking Arthur away and her powers can be used to heal or to harm. In Chapter Two Hebert discusses Morgan’s (or a Morgan-like character’s) actions in romances including Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Thomas Chestre’s Sir Launfal, and Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival. Hebert argues that the fairy and loathly lady figures share the common features of ‘healing, sexuality, a connection with the forest, shapechanging and magic’ (p. 42). While the fairy in Sir Launfal is named Tryamour, not Morgan, Hebert argues they have several connections, the most important being that they share the characteristics of educating knights and commenting on the values of the court. In this romance, the knight rejects the values of the court and chooses the values of the fairy. In Hebert’s interpretation of Sir Gawain, Morgan’s lesson concerns the ambiguity of life. ‘Being courteous is all very well, but how does a knight hold to the truly important values such as truth when the situation is ambiguous and the consequences are dire—the loss of life, of comrades, of an entire kingdom?’ (p. 55), Hebert asks in reference to the challenges in the future of the court. In linking the loathly lady tales, such as ‘The Wife of Bath’s Tale,’ to Morgan, Hebert relies on similar characteristics as well as previous critics’ work starting with Lucy Paton. Chapter Three is devoted to Morgan le Fay in Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur and her varied roles in this text. The main thrust of Hebert’s argument is that Morgan is a tester of knights and is able to reveal the shortcomings of the court and of Arthur as a ruler. Hebert argues that Morgan is in a position to do this because she is able to avoid categorization and is not beholden to the code of chivalry. Hebert portrays this testing of Morgan positively, in that Morgan’s efforts to get Arthur to deal with the treason of Lancelot and Guenevere before it is exposed to the court by Mordred ‘are attempts to heal the wound before it destroys Camelot’ (p. 89). A reader may wonder why the time periods of Renaissance, Romantic, and Victorian times, the subject of Chapter Four, are even included in a book on Morgan le Fay since those works typically do not include a character named Morgan le Fay. However, Hebert makes a persuasive argument that the characteristics of Morgan are separated and portrayed by other characters (often superficially) with each character frequently representing a single character trait of the earlier Morgan. The best known works, Spenser’s Faerie Queene and Tennyson’s The Idylls of the King, are covered, but also discussed are some lesser known works, including some in which Morgan does appear, such as Benedict Naubert’s ‘The Mantle.’ Finally, in Chapter Five, Hebert ends with examining contemporary fiction in which Morgan is a major character, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, The Mists of Avalon, I Am Morgan le Fay, and Le Morte D’Avalon. While some critics have seen The Mists of Avalon as a feminist...