Idylls of the King Man and the Natural World Quotes

Before Arthur arrives, Britain is a barren wasteland. “Harried” by pagan invaders, the British must allow their land to be overtaken by wilderness. Arthur’s role is therefore to tame the wild. His defense of the territory allows it to be occupied and civilized again.

These men, raised by wolves in the woods, are “worse than wolves” from the Idylls’ perspective. They are neither beast nor man, but some combination of the two. Which is even worse. Arthur’s goal is to convince men to tame their bestial urges so they become “fully” man. These wolf-like men represent everything he is fighting against.

The character of Vivien is very connected with the natural world both in her characterization and in her spirituality, which is a sort of nature-worship that exalts the natural impulses—“the fire within thy blood”—within all creatures. The “fire of Heaven” to which she refers is the life-giving force that makes blossoms open and controls the rhythm of the seasons that appears throughout the Idylls.

Balin’s cry of rage when Vivien confirms Guinevere’s adultery is compared to the shriek of “bird or beast.” Hearing it, Balan assumes that his brother is the “wood-devil.” He is correct in a figurative  sense, for Balin has allowed his passions, or his “demon,” to control him.

This description of Vivien compares her to a bird whose “ruffled” feathers are smoothed by Merlin’s encouragement. Seemingly soothed, she is a young caged bird returning to her “perch.” Throughout “Merlin and Vivien,” Vivien is portrayed in animal terms: she is called a serpent coiling at Merlin’s feet and compares herself to a “gilded spider” caught in his web.

Arthur disagrees with Lancelot’s description of himself as completely overtaken by a single sin. To Arthur, what’s true and noble in a man is too strong to be completely overcome by any one sin unless that man is actually an animal. Arthur’s optimism about human nature is at odds with the pessimism of characters like Lancelot and Vivien throughout the Idylls.

This passage compares Mordred to an animal stalking his prey (that would be Guinevere). Like Vivien, Mordred is described as an animal. He is a different kind of animal, though. While Vivien is a serpent who coils around her prey, Mordred is a mammalian predator who hides in the shadows waiting to pounce. The role of bodily contact in Vivien’s predatory strategy contrasts with Mordred’s more intellectual, covert approach.

Arthur reflects that his realm is reeling “back into the beast,” marking his conception of himself as a tamer of the wilderness. “The Coming of Arthur” described Britain as overtaken by wild animals. But what Arthur means when he says that it is going “back into the beast” isn’t just this literal sense in which Britain once again becomes wild. He's also referring to how the animal within man is rearing its ugly head.