How Is Merlin Alive In T. H. White's The History Of Merlin

Throughout the books The History of The Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth and The Book of Merlin by T.H White, the authors attempt to bring the legend of Merlin alive. The History of The Kings of Britain was written in 1136, while The Book of Merlin was created in 1977. There is a clear connection between Geoffrey of Monmouth’s ideas of women and religion related to his writing as well as T.H White’s anti-communist beliefs with Merlin's attributes.
In The History of The Kings of Britain there is a large focus on how Merlin was conceived and how he received his powers. In this text there is an insight to Merlin’s conception through his mother’s eyes, where she explains how “appeared to [her] a person in the shape of a most beautiful young man, who often embraced [her] eagerly
in his arms, and kissed [her]” (Thompson 109). With that said the book pushes the author's agenda by making Merlin's father unknown or an angelic figure.
The author attempts to break down the stereotype that single parent households cannot succeed in their society. Monmouth related Merlin's conception to the mysterious immaculate conception just like Mary with Jesus. In a way Monmouth is promoting Women's rights because he is telling the story as though Merlin's mother raised him to be powerful all on her own, furthermore giving her a strong motherly role. In 1136 women were still being blamed for original sin and were seen as lesser than men, which means Geoffrey of Monmouth went out on his own beliefs to get his point across. Monmouth did this because he had a higher education than most others at the time so he could see that women were no less than men. In The History of The Kings of Britain, while the king was having his wizards build a tower, Merlin takes his chance to explain a parable from the Bible in his own way. He goes on to mention how “[the king] will find a pond which causes the foundation to sink”, therefore one cannot build upon unsturdy ground. The way the story is written reflects that the author was a cleric. The story and Merlin’s ideas were formed around what was going
on in Monmouth's life, which was his holy work. The influence of Christianity could be considered medieval propaganda because in a way it bashes the earlier pagan religions. By classifying an all knowing wise being as a Christian, shows that religion in a positive light. Christianity was very popular in the 1130s when the story was told, therefore the author could have written it with a Christian undertone in order to appeal to most of society at the time. The History of The Kings of Britain gave way for future authors to use Merlin as a vehicle to further their own agendas.. The Book of Merlin focuses more as a story and anti communist propaganda than an informational text about the origin and life of Merlin. Throughout the book, Merlin comments on Marx by saying, “Marx was a bad naturalist because he committed the gross blunder of overlooking the human skull in the geese and because he subscribed to the Egalite Fallacy, which is abhorrent to nature” (White 90). The capitalist bias is apparent because the book was written in 1977 by an American author who was obviously anti-communist, consequently he gave a wise character his own attributes to further support his political cause. The author is writing it towards his own cause, but also to the preference of his intended audience, which is the American people in 1977. Both authors had an agenda to push through their writing, Monmouth stressed religion while T.H. White evaluated the class system. The author does not use a Christian undertone in The Book of Merlin, thus the author did not see that as an important characteristic of Merlin or Christianity went against his own personal beliefs. In The Book of Merlin the author expresses his opposition to communism by mocking the three classic points of communism, “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity” with his own points, “Liberty, Brutality, and Obscenity”(White 90). Once again the author proves to be educated on communism and is able to formulate a counter argument in its place.
Either way each book pushes a personal agenda, which correlates to the year it was written. Within The History of The Kings of Britain and The Book of Merlin, there are a couple major ideas carried throughout each individual story respectively, such as Christianity, women's rights, and the reality of communism. Geoffrey of Monmouth stems his ideas of Christianity through his own personal beliefs and his career as a cleric in a monastery. Similarly, Monmouth derives his respect for women by his higher education and his own ideals that went against the status quo. T.H White was a product of the area around him, which affected the ideas and characteristics of Merlin in his entire book. The author was writing in America in 1977 when there was a large anti-communist movement, therefore he was pushed in this direction with blending together multiple legends mixed with the popular ideas at the time. Either book was a product of its environment and the author’s own beliefs at the time. The obvious bias within each source based off the author's preferences reveals how modern day works are subjected to the same process, therefore readers should be cautious on how they are influenced by literature.