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Article: 'Lyouns Full Lothely': Dream Interpretation and Boethian Denaturing in the Alliterative Morte Arthure
- Article from:
- Arthuriana
- Article date:
- April 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Arthuriana 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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The Boethian use of animals to depict human degeneration through sin features in Arthur's two dreams. Arthur fails to interpret these dreams as signifying the loss of his true nature and of his kingdom. (BM)
As a poem describing the continental wars of a British king, the Alliterative Morte Arthure cannot fail to call to mind Edward III and his wars in France.1 However, the usurpation of the king's throne which the Morte Arthure portrays reminds one not of Edward, but of Richard; by the same token, internal hints of Lancastrian bias suggest that the poet's Arthur represents not Richard, but Henry.2 Given the obvious affinity of the poem's subject with events from the mid-fourteenth to ...