In our century, Arthurian legend has been a very popular motif for writers from T.S. Eliot to Walter Percy. At the present moment, Guinevere has gained massive popularity as a character in these novels, with feminist rewritings o f her character abounding. Marion Zimmer Bradley's 1982 bestseller, The Mists of Avalon, features a Guinevere quite unlike any we have seen before. For one thing, she neither loves nor has any lustful liaison with Lancelot. She is, however, a "religiou s bigot" who is heavy Christian--highly unfortunate for any character in Bradley's druid-sympathetic text. Nevertheless, she must commit some form of treason if she is to be the "authentic" Guinevere, and thus betrays Arthur in a highly philosophical sen se. Spivak argues that Guinevere's "crime against Arthur in this work is...her devout and intolerant Christianity" (84). The other strong female characters, Margaine, Vivian and Igraine, are all associated with the Celtic triple goddess, not Christianity. Guinevere cuts Arthur off from these characters and druidism with her insistence upon his strict adherence to Christiantiy, and thereby forces him to break his prom ise "to preserve the old religion under his rule" (84). She betrays Arthur by forcing him to break faith with the old ways; by turning on his subjects, she turns on him.
In a even more recent treatment, "Guenevere Speaks" (1987) by Wendy M Mnookin, Guinevere lives in the convent to which Malory assigned her in Le Morte Darthur, soulessly going through her daily routine. She vows, "I will stay at A lmesbury till I die." Tortured, she remembers Arthur's death, which forces its way into her consciousness in the course of the poem; she, however, swears off seeing Lancelot again because she "cannot lose him again" (Lupeck 487). This Guinevere regrets the loss of her love more than that of her kingdom. Her role as betrayer of Arthur is a given, and we know she is haunted by the carnage of his last battle, seeing sti ll "their bodies, bones, blood" (486). We realize, however, that she does not see herself as defined by her famous betrayal, but by her love for Lancelot. Guinevere prioritizes the personal over the political, turning Arthurian legend upside down: we kn ow, at last, she would do it again.
Guinevere, through the ages, has stayed true to her falsehood. In recent works, she has gained status as a human being, earned "internalized" character and autonomy. Her "newly extended career, [begins] long before Arthur and Lan celot and [continues] long beyond" (83). Readers now are asked to grant sympathy and understanding for the woman who for eight centuries, has been compelled to betray the husband she loved and lost the only man she loved more. Guinevere, like all of us, must live with herself and her mistakes. Most of us, luckily, do not have to live so long.
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