Tennyson's Excalibur '

Tennyson’s Morte D’arthur emphasizes the breakdown of an era of rule and authority and a rise in chaos, which is accordant with the collapse of Arthur’s kingdom. Although this extract does consist of melancholic themes, it also offers a glimmer of hope. The eventual discarding of the sword “Excalibur” which “flash’d and fell” on the third time of asking is one of the examples of a sequence of three within the poem, which occurs frequently throughout the text. The capitalized name for his sword “Excalibur” not only encapsulates the legend of Arthur and his importance but it embodies a way of life for Bedivere. The fact it is being discarded hints at the instability the world faces without Arthur’s rule. However, hope and faith is partially restored by Bedivere’s account of “an arm” which was “clothed in
This extract presents the conflict that Bedivere faces when having to let his faith in Arthur triumph over his common sense. There is another reference to the light of the sword with Bedivere having to close his “eyelids” or the “gems should blind” his “purpose”. This creates a strong contrast between the darkness of the bleak winter setting and of the sombre themes of the inevitability of Arthur’s death and decline with the light and radiance of the sword, which represents Arthur’s kingship and previous influential rule. There is also subtle wordplay within Bedivere’s answer to King Arthur with the lines “for I never saw/Nor shall see, here or elsewhere”. The word “see” could be construed as a double entendre, meaning both to see with ones eyes, but also the sea in which the sword became submerged. The word “here” is also part of the pun, representing the importance of the location as well as also meaning “hear” as one of the five senses. This would be particularly important if Bedivere was “blind” and could not rely on his sight, but in this sense he is more likely to be blinded by his purpose due to his reluctance to follow Arthur’s command to discard the