I Am Mordred Comparison Essay
Many works of literature from historical ones to modern ones can be rewritten in form of an adaptation. An adaptation is simply when a story is rewritten by using several techniques such as extension or expansion. Just as old movies are remade today, books can also be rewritten, either having a similar or a slightly different outcome. An adaptation, however, could also have specific changes such as how the stories are told by using different perspective. The excerpts from Palimpsests: Literature in the Second Degree by Gerald Genette describe many literary devices that are used when writing a hypertext, which is adaptation. Nancy Springer’s novel I am Mordred is an example of an adaptation of a fifteenth century book by Sir Thomas Malory called
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Le Morte D’arthur. Springer uses expansion, extension and focalization from Genette’s “Literature in the Second Degree”, specifically writing I am Mordred in the perspective of Mordred himself as the narrator of the story, and thereby successfully focusing on a deeper analysis of Mordred, who is evidently depicted as a sympathetic character having to cope with his psychological problem, facing his prophesized fate. Springer’s I am Mordred and Malory’s Le Morte D’arthur are different yet similar to a certain extent. One major distinction between the hypertext and hypotext is the narrative perspective or focalization, in Genette’s terms. Focalization is when the author modifies the narrative point of view. Readers of I am Mordred will read the novel in Mordred’s point of view and readers of Le Morte D’arthur will read it without a character’s point of view. This being the case, Springer’s version of Mordred contains more sophisticated details about Mordred than Malory’s. Since Mordred is the narrator telling his own story, he is able to give readers a more sympathetic characteristic look than Mallory’s Mordred, who is depicted as a more evil figure. Furthermore, Malory’s “Le Morte D’arthur” is not only focused on the character Mordred but more on the whole Arthurian Legend, which not only includes a specific story of Mordred but also other Arthurian characters. Thus, a detailed analysis of characters such as Mordred is not included. In the case of “I am Mordred”, readers can really catch and feel the prospective of Mordred because the book is written in Mordred’s view. To successfully put readers in Mordred’s steps, Springer uses expansion, focalization and many others of Genette’s literary devices to rewrite the story of Mordred. Yet although Springer has changed much of the character’s mood and personality, the two differently written stories contain the same plot; Springer achieves this effectively because she has only changed how the readers look upon the characters’ personality and not the outcome of the story. Another distinction between the hypertext and hypotext is the language. In the hypotext, Malory uses Middle English, which is odd to most people today; readers will have a hard time focusing on the character analysis. In comparison, Springer’s usage of modern English is an advantage in effectively grasping Mordred’s mind and thoughts to clearly understand how Mordred actually feels about King Arthur, who simultaneously is his father and uncle—and most importantly his prophesized fate to kill Arthur. Despite the differences and similarities between the hypotext and the hypertext, Springer builds up her adaptation by using Genette’s literary devices to completely revaluate Mordred with a psychological transformation. One of the techniques Springer uses to augment “I am Mordred” is called expansion.
Expansion, as described by Genette, is not directly expanding the hypotext by adding massive additions but through a “kind of stylistic dilation”. Genette states that “in grossly oversimplified terms, the procedure consists in doubling or tripling the length of each sentence in the hypotext” (Genette 260). This is exactly what Springer did to her adaptation of Mordred; she wrote the book in the perspective of Mordred, which created ample descriptions of Mordred as a character figure. For example, in the beginning of the book, Mordred says ‘“When I was a baby, my father tried to kill me”’ (Springer3). This statement tells us that Mordred has greatly been affected by the relationship of him and his father, Arthur. In addition, we, the readers feel sympathetic towards him. In Le Morte D’arthur, Malory did not use expansion to depict his Mordred as sophisticated as Springer’s Mordred. Rather, Malory wrote his story without deep character analysis, which lacked the extra touch or feel of the characters; then again, unlike “I am Mordred”, which is primarily about Mordred’s life, Le Morte D’arthur is a collection of stories about other Arthurian figures
too. Springer, however, does include many characters who are also given their own personalities like Mordred. For example, Springer puts much emphasis on the character Nyneve. In Malory’s Le Morte D’arthur, Nyneve is not such an important character who only comes in for a while. Also, Nyneve is actually named Nimue or Lady of the Lake. On the contrast, Nyneve plays a crucial part in I am Mordred. She serves as a role model for Modred, helping him build into a mentally stronger character. For example, she says, ‘“Fate is a lie, Mordred. Fate is Merlin’s puffery’” (Springer 85). With her guidance, readers also know that Mordred has been struggling with his psychological problem. Another example where Springer uses her characters to portray Mordred as a sympathetic character is Gawain and Garet, Mordred’s brothers. They would always call Mordred “coward” because he never really liked killing as a knight should be able to do with ease. In one scene Gawain asks Mordred to ‘“have a whack’” at Pellinore, who killed King Lothe; however, Mordred states ‘“no, your father was not my father.’” (Springer 87). And Mordred is called a coward in reply. At this point, readers can really look into Mordred’s mind and understand that he does not want to kill without a real purpose, also feeling condolence towards him. By using expansion as one of her techniques from Genette’s Palimpsests, Springer successfully dilates her characters’ personalities that help readers feel a bit of sympathy towards Mordred. To further reevaluate the character Mordred as a young knight who seeks sympathy in his inevitable psychological dilemma, his prophesized fate, Springer uses extension to create new characters and events. Extension, as defined by Genette, is an “augmentation by massive addition” (Genette 254). Springer effectively utilizes extension to bring up new characters and events that help readers view Mordred as someone who is sympathetic, rather than viewed with treachery and betrayal. In Malory’s Le Morte D’arthur, Mordred is directly brought up as an evil character. Malory does not go in depth on how he was raised in adolescence. On the contrary, in I am Mordred, Springer creates a whole new event about Mordred’s childhood, and how he was brought up. She even invents new characters to be dealt with in Mordred’s youth ages. One example of a new character Springer has created is the Fishermother, who is Mordred’s nurturer when Mordred is found in the coracle. Fishermother is depicted as a sweet, kindhearted lady who brought up Mordred as a bright little boy. Mordred states ‘“I did not at first think to hate my father, because my fishermother taught me no hatred’” (Springer 3). This quote directly tells readers that Mordred’s youth was brought up with no hatred or contempt. Moreover, in the beginning of the novel, Springer adds an event where she tells the story of Mordred’s youth with Fishermother; Mordred’s childhood with Fishermother is described with affection and innocence, even giving Mordred a nickname of “Tad”. By reading the descriptions about the adolescence of Mordred, readers are given the opportunity to relate and connect to Mordred, giving them a far more sympathetic outlook on Mordred than Malory’s original. Apart from expansion and extension, Springer’s most vital technique she used from Genette’s Palimpsests to remake the story of Mordred and to reevaluate him is focalization. One of the most essential and distinctive literary device used by Springer in her I am Mordred is focalization. Focalization is when the author modifies the narrative point of view. Genette’s direct definition of focalization is “operations that modify the narrative point of view” (Genette 287). In the “Literature in the Second Degree”, Genette states that focalization is “the crux of the matter and must be dwelt on at some length” (Genette 287). This is true because Springer strongly believes in Genette’s statement because her main adaption between her adaptation and the hypotext is due to focalization, which changes the whole perspective and mood of the story. In Springer’s case, she changed the narration of the hypotext to the narration of Mordred. In one scene during Mordred’s childhood in I am Mordred, Mordred is taken away by Nyneve from Fishermother; Mordred says, ‘“I did not yet understand. Nor did I understand how or why she called me Mordred’” (Springer 8). This quote presents readers with an innocent boy, who is clueless and ingenuous of being the “cursed” son of King Arthur. And again, readers feel sympathetic toward the credulous child. Throughout the novel, Springer put readers into Mordred’s position, granting Mordred the capability to appreciate himself and also to defend his actions of proving his fate wrong; readers are effectively put into Mordred’s mind, feeling the same emotion of being accused of doing nothing wrong. Genette also states “since the transfocalization here would afford opportunities of responding to questions left unanswered by the gaps in the hypotext such as, while this is happening to X, what is becoming of Y?” (Genette 287). In an analogical sense, for “I am Mordred”, Springer rewrites the story of Mordred by retelling a partial story of the Arthurian Legend, which could be the “X” and Mordred’s perspective or his point of view as “what is becoming of Y”. In contrast to I am Mordred, Mallory’s original story of Mordred has a narration that is neutral and unbiased, portraying no sympathy towards Mordred, since he is a well known villain with treachery. With Springer using techniques such as expansion, extension and focalization from Genette’s “Palimpsests”, she has done an excellent job in reevaluating the character Mordred, not only in transforming Mordred into a more modern figure, but also into a character with a psychological issue, his predetermined fate—to kill King Arthur. Genette states, “The revaluation of a character consists in investing him or her—by way of pragmatic or psychological transformation—with a more significant and or more attractive role in the value system of the hypertext than was the case in the hypotext” (Genette 243). Springer has done this exactly in her I am Mordred to retell a story only focused on the newly revaluated character of Mordred who is significantly put into a “more attractive role” and into a “psychological transformation”. Genette also states that “The modern reconstruction of an epic figure will thus consist of complexifying a character that the epic had constructed all of a piece, by disclosing beneath each of them” (Genette 336), and Springer has done this by creating a Mordred so complex and extraordinary, inventing an almost new character who has been sharing his emotions closely with the readers, which not only gave readers a sympathetic view of him, but also putting the readers into his shoes. Springer has also rewritten her adaptation of Mordred by focusing on one major theme, which is Mordred proving his fate wrong and in addition to facing the truth of being a “bastard” or King Arthur’s son and nephew; this major focus throughout the novel has truly affected Mordred psychologically.
Le Morte D’arthur. Springer uses expansion, extension and focalization from Genette’s “Literature in the Second Degree”, specifically writing I am Mordred in the perspective of Mordred himself as the narrator of the story, and thereby successfully focusing on a deeper analysis of Mordred, who is evidently depicted as a sympathetic character having to cope with his psychological problem, facing his prophesized fate. Springer’s I am Mordred and Malory’s Le Morte D’arthur are different yet similar to a certain extent. One major distinction between the hypertext and hypotext is the narrative perspective or focalization, in Genette’s terms. Focalization is when the author modifies the narrative point of view. Readers of I am Mordred will read the novel in Mordred’s point of view and readers of Le Morte D’arthur will read it without a character’s point of view. This being the case, Springer’s version of Mordred contains more sophisticated details about Mordred than Malory’s. Since Mordred is the narrator telling his own story, he is able to give readers a more sympathetic characteristic look than Mallory’s Mordred, who is depicted as a more evil figure. Furthermore, Malory’s “Le Morte D’arthur” is not only focused on the character Mordred but more on the whole Arthurian Legend, which not only includes a specific story of Mordred but also other Arthurian characters. Thus, a detailed analysis of characters such as Mordred is not included. In the case of “I am Mordred”, readers can really catch and feel the prospective of Mordred because the book is written in Mordred’s view. To successfully put readers in Mordred’s steps, Springer uses expansion, focalization and many others of Genette’s literary devices to rewrite the story of Mordred. Yet although Springer has changed much of the character’s mood and personality, the two differently written stories contain the same plot; Springer achieves this effectively because she has only changed how the readers look upon the characters’ personality and not the outcome of the story. Another distinction between the hypertext and hypotext is the language. In the hypotext, Malory uses Middle English, which is odd to most people today; readers will have a hard time focusing on the character analysis. In comparison, Springer’s usage of modern English is an advantage in effectively grasping Mordred’s mind and thoughts to clearly understand how Mordred actually feels about King Arthur, who simultaneously is his father and uncle—and most importantly his prophesized fate to kill Arthur. Despite the differences and similarities between the hypotext and the hypertext, Springer builds up her adaptation by using Genette’s literary devices to completely revaluate Mordred with a psychological transformation. One of the techniques Springer uses to augment “I am Mordred” is called expansion.
Expansion, as described by Genette, is not directly expanding the hypotext by adding massive additions but through a “kind of stylistic dilation”. Genette states that “in grossly oversimplified terms, the procedure consists in doubling or tripling the length of each sentence in the hypotext” (Genette 260). This is exactly what Springer did to her adaptation of Mordred; she wrote the book in the perspective of Mordred, which created ample descriptions of Mordred as a character figure. For example, in the beginning of the book, Mordred says ‘“When I was a baby, my father tried to kill me”’ (Springer3). This statement tells us that Mordred has greatly been affected by the relationship of him and his father, Arthur. In addition, we, the readers feel sympathetic towards him. In Le Morte D’arthur, Malory did not use expansion to depict his Mordred as sophisticated as Springer’s Mordred. Rather, Malory wrote his story without deep character analysis, which lacked the extra touch or feel of the characters; then again, unlike “I am Mordred”, which is primarily about Mordred’s life, Le Morte D’arthur is a collection of stories about other Arthurian figures
too. Springer, however, does include many characters who are also given their own personalities like Mordred. For example, Springer puts much emphasis on the character Nyneve. In Malory’s Le Morte D’arthur, Nyneve is not such an important character who only comes in for a while. Also, Nyneve is actually named Nimue or Lady of the Lake. On the contrast, Nyneve plays a crucial part in I am Mordred. She serves as a role model for Modred, helping him build into a mentally stronger character. For example, she says, ‘“Fate is a lie, Mordred. Fate is Merlin’s puffery’” (Springer 85). With her guidance, readers also know that Mordred has been struggling with his psychological problem. Another example where Springer uses her characters to portray Mordred as a sympathetic character is Gawain and Garet, Mordred’s brothers. They would always call Mordred “coward” because he never really liked killing as a knight should be able to do with ease. In one scene Gawain asks Mordred to ‘“have a whack’” at Pellinore, who killed King Lothe; however, Mordred states ‘“no, your father was not my father.’” (Springer 87). And Mordred is called a coward in reply. At this point, readers can really look into Mordred’s mind and understand that he does not want to kill without a real purpose, also feeling condolence towards him. By using expansion as one of her techniques from Genette’s Palimpsests, Springer successfully dilates her characters’ personalities that help readers feel a bit of sympathy towards Mordred. To further reevaluate the character Mordred as a young knight who seeks sympathy in his inevitable psychological dilemma, his prophesized fate, Springer uses extension to create new characters and events. Extension, as defined by Genette, is an “augmentation by massive addition” (Genette 254). Springer effectively utilizes extension to bring up new characters and events that help readers view Mordred as someone who is sympathetic, rather than viewed with treachery and betrayal. In Malory’s Le Morte D’arthur, Mordred is directly brought up as an evil character. Malory does not go in depth on how he was raised in adolescence. On the contrary, in I am Mordred, Springer creates a whole new event about Mordred’s childhood, and how he was brought up. She even invents new characters to be dealt with in Mordred’s youth ages. One example of a new character Springer has created is the Fishermother, who is Mordred’s nurturer when Mordred is found in the coracle. Fishermother is depicted as a sweet, kindhearted lady who brought up Mordred as a bright little boy. Mordred states ‘“I did not at first think to hate my father, because my fishermother taught me no hatred’” (Springer 3). This quote directly tells readers that Mordred’s youth was brought up with no hatred or contempt. Moreover, in the beginning of the novel, Springer adds an event where she tells the story of Mordred’s youth with Fishermother; Mordred’s childhood with Fishermother is described with affection and innocence, even giving Mordred a nickname of “Tad”. By reading the descriptions about the adolescence of Mordred, readers are given the opportunity to relate and connect to Mordred, giving them a far more sympathetic outlook on Mordred than Malory’s original. Apart from expansion and extension, Springer’s most vital technique she used from Genette’s Palimpsests to remake the story of Mordred and to reevaluate him is focalization. One of the most essential and distinctive literary device used by Springer in her I am Mordred is focalization. Focalization is when the author modifies the narrative point of view. Genette’s direct definition of focalization is “operations that modify the narrative point of view” (Genette 287). In the “Literature in the Second Degree”, Genette states that focalization is “the crux of the matter and must be dwelt on at some length” (Genette 287). This is true because Springer strongly believes in Genette’s statement because her main adaption between her adaptation and the hypotext is due to focalization, which changes the whole perspective and mood of the story. In Springer’s case, she changed the narration of the hypotext to the narration of Mordred. In one scene during Mordred’s childhood in I am Mordred, Mordred is taken away by Nyneve from Fishermother; Mordred says, ‘“I did not yet understand. Nor did I understand how or why she called me Mordred’” (Springer 8). This quote presents readers with an innocent boy, who is clueless and ingenuous of being the “cursed” son of King Arthur. And again, readers feel sympathetic toward the credulous child. Throughout the novel, Springer put readers into Mordred’s position, granting Mordred the capability to appreciate himself and also to defend his actions of proving his fate wrong; readers are effectively put into Mordred’s mind, feeling the same emotion of being accused of doing nothing wrong. Genette also states “since the transfocalization here would afford opportunities of responding to questions left unanswered by the gaps in the hypotext such as, while this is happening to X, what is becoming of Y?” (Genette 287). In an analogical sense, for “I am Mordred”, Springer rewrites the story of Mordred by retelling a partial story of the Arthurian Legend, which could be the “X” and Mordred’s perspective or his point of view as “what is becoming of Y”. In contrast to I am Mordred, Mallory’s original story of Mordred has a narration that is neutral and unbiased, portraying no sympathy towards Mordred, since he is a well known villain with treachery. With Springer using techniques such as expansion, extension and focalization from Genette’s “Palimpsests”, she has done an excellent job in reevaluating the character Mordred, not only in transforming Mordred into a more modern figure, but also into a character with a psychological issue, his predetermined fate—to kill King Arthur. Genette states, “The revaluation of a character consists in investing him or her—by way of pragmatic or psychological transformation—with a more significant and or more attractive role in the value system of the hypertext than was the case in the hypotext” (Genette 243). Springer has done this exactly in her I am Mordred to retell a story only focused on the newly revaluated character of Mordred who is significantly put into a “more attractive role” and into a “psychological transformation”. Genette also states that “The modern reconstruction of an epic figure will thus consist of complexifying a character that the epic had constructed all of a piece, by disclosing beneath each of them” (Genette 336), and Springer has done this by creating a Mordred so complex and extraordinary, inventing an almost new character who has been sharing his emotions closely with the readers, which not only gave readers a sympathetic view of him, but also putting the readers into his shoes. Springer has also rewritten her adaptation of Mordred by focusing on one major theme, which is Mordred proving his fate wrong and in addition to facing the truth of being a “bastard” or King Arthur’s son and nephew; this major focus throughout the novel has truly affected Mordred psychologically.