Smothering Mothers and Corpse-like Sons: T. H. White's The Once and Future King, Freud, and Queer Coding
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Abstract
T.H. White’s The Once and Future King is one of the most important modern adaptations of Arthurian legend when looking at how these villains have been characterised in modernity. Morgause is Arthur’s half sister and mother of his only son, and this book cements her as a villain in the Arthurian corpus. Mordred, her son fathered by her brother, is the other major villain in this story. White’s novel depicts Morgause as an abusive mother, using the language of consumption and vampirism to show how she haunts her son’s psyche after her death. This unhealthy dynamic is also used to explain Mordred’s queerness in the novel. Using Freudian analysis, one can understand further how interconnected these villainous characters are, and how Morgause’s toxic motherly love has made her son Mordred into a villain.
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