Malory and WhiteOctober 28, 1983Copyright © 1997 Property of Deborah K. Fletcher. All rights reserved.
Thomas Malory and Thomas White were authors of the same subject. In spite of this fact, there were many differences between their works. Malory wrote in a straight-laced, serious manner. White, however, wrote in a more humorous manner. Malory seemed preoccupied with fighting and death. He seemed almost morbid. White seemed more inclined toward education and humor. Whereas Malory was writing in order to gain God's forgiveness, White was writing for entertainment. The characters in Le Morte d'Arthur were serious, war-like men and scheming women. They were often single-dimensional, dull characters. In contrast, the characters in The Sword in the Stone were human, humorous, interesting characters. They were warm, caring, and three-dimentional. One notable difference in characterization between the works of Malory and White is the portrayal of Merlin. In Malory's work Merlin is serious, cold, powerful, and resourceful. He is shown as a grand magician with few human traits. In White's work Merlin is a lovable old man whose spells seldom work. He is shown as helpful, wise, caring, and human. The dialogue in the two works also differs. In Malory's book the speech is formal and stilted in most cases. In White's book the speech is that of ordinary people, with all of the slurrings, shortenings, and mispronunciation of an old English dialect. This is illustrated very well by Little John's speech in chapter 10, page 132 of The Sword in the Stone. Detail was very much neglected by Malory when he composed Le Morte d'Arthur. Lists of people and enumerations of battles took precedence over details. However, in The Sword in the Stone far more attention was paid to colorful, interesting description than to dull lists. Malory's style in writing was very typical of the time period in which he lived. His was a stilted style which caused his work to be difficult to read or to understand. White's style of writing was more relaxed than Malory's style. This fact made his works more easily read. It also made his work more interesting and comprehensible than Malory's work. Please View and Sign My Guestbook © 1998-2000 Debbie Fletcher, joiya@tcia.net
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