for Victorian Literature Seminar ENGL 450 at Queen's University

1. “The Passing of Arthur”
A presentation by Elizabeth Cameron

2. Photo: Swedish National Heritage Board
Sir Bedivere, the last of King Arthur’s loyal knights,
tells the story of the passing of Arthur as an old
man, many years after the events take place.

3. The story
opens with
Bedivere
overhearing
Arthur
moaning in
his tent.
Photo: Dusica86

4. Sir Gawain’s ghost appears to
Arthur in a dream and tells him
that he will die the next day and
move on to an “isle of rest” (IV.35).
Photo: Nationaal Archief

5. Bedivere tries his best to comfort the King
and reminds him that Modred and an army
of traitors are advancing.
Photo: National Library of Scotland

6. Arthur and Bedivere travel west to
fight Modred’s army, but a great white
mist covers everything, resulting in a
great deal of confusion.
Photo: Powerhouse Museum Collection

7. A strong northward wind blows the mist away
Only King Arthur, Bedivere, and
Modred remain alive after the
horrific battle .
Photo: National Library of Scotland

8. Arthur fights Modred and receives
a mortal wound, but with one last
swing of Excalibur he kills Modred.
Photo: Powerhouse Museum Collection

9. Sir Bedivere
carries the
dying King to a
chapel that
overlooks the
sea.
Photo: National Library of Australia Commons

10. Arthur tells
Bedivere
that he
must throw
Excalibur
into the sea.
Bedivere fails
to do so...
twice
Photo: New York Public Library

11. On his third try, Bedivere manages to
successfully throw Excalibur into the sea.
A magical hand reaches out and
grabs the sword .
Photo: Nationaal Archief

12. Three queens sail in on a barge to take King
Arthur away.
Image is from “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and is c/o Polygram Video

13. Sir Bedivere watches from a cliff while the barge
that carries King Arthur sails off into the horizon
towards Avalon.
Photo: Powerhouse Museum Collections

14. “Tennyson’s profoundly personal quest for
reunion with Hallam in In Memorium
becomes, in Idylls of the King, a profoundly
impersonal despair for the passing not
only of a hero, but of civilization itself”
(Rosenberg 144).

15. “As to Arthur, you could not by
any means make a poem
national to Englishmen. What
have we to do with him?”
– Samuel Taylor Choleric

16. “Victorian society was a fractious one torn between
religious orthodoxy and religious apostasy, social
reform, and social Darwinism. Scientific
breakthroughs were balanced by an ever-deepening
spiritual void that seemed to hound the most
advanced intellects of the period” (Halloran 23).

17. “But I was first of all the kings who drew
The knighthood-errant of this realm and all
The realm together under me, their Head,
In that fair Order of my Table Round,
A glorious company, the flower of men,
To serve as model for the mighty world,
And be the fair beginning of time”
(Guinevere, 457-463)

18. “...the whole Round Table is dissolved”

19. “Evolution is an idea
with two faces. One is
smiling and beckons us
onward and upward to
ever higher forms; the
other face is death’s
head, bones encased in
stone, a struggle ending
in extinction”
(Rosenburg 149).
Photo: Powerhouse Museum Collections

20. “...all my realm
Reels back into the beast, and is no more”
(Passing of Arthur 25-26).

21. “*Arthur+ is the embodiment of the divine
will...[he must] realize his highest calling in
this world through an attempt to make
humanity more aware of its full capability”
(Staines).

22. “A theme – death and resurgence – [is]
integral to Idylls of the King” (Lovelace, 25).

23. “The old order changeth, yielding place to new”

24. “And the new sun rose bringing the new year”

25. All photos were taken from the Creative
Commons at www.flickr.com
The castle photos were all taken from
the Library of Congress account on the
Creative Commons at www.flickr.com.

26. Questions?!

27. It would seem that Tennyson somewhat reconciles the
fact that he depicts the complete destruction of
Arthurian society with the suggestion that it can be
rebuilt...
do you think he suggests that there is any hope of salvaging a
sense of the self, in particular, the Victorian self?

28. What other relevant
similarities or differences
might we draw between
“The Passing of Arthur”
and In Memorium?