A Psychoanalytical Reading of Morgan Le Fay In Three Different Mediums
This article will adopt the Medieval character “Morgan Le Fay” and question her framed character descriptions and depictions as the feminine exotic other and the stereotypical antagonist by exploring her briefly from a psychological approach as a person in how she was represented in three different mediums. Namely:
Mort D’Arthur by Malroy
A work was written originally by Thomas Malory. 15th-century prose that retold the Arthurian legend. It is considered a masterpiece.
A TV series named “Merlin”
A BBC series (September 2008 — December 2012) that retells the legend of King Arthur, highlighting Merlin, his advisor and guide, as the protagonist over 65 episodes divided into five seasons in a journey full of sarcastic irony, magic, drama, friendship, and loss.
A videogame franchise named “Dragon Age”
An action RPG videogame series (2009–2014) developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. The game series adopts Morgan in every release, a prominent aspect to consider.
The three chosen mediums may seem different at first glance, but they are not. They all come to portray the same Medieval era. Except for Dragon Age, since it is a fantasy realm. However, as a whole, they each carry a personality fragment of the character in question, making psychoanalysis the perfect analytical medium of choice.
The Feministic Exotic ‘Othering’
Traced In Mort D’Arthur
Morgan, in this work, is the third sister who was put to school in a nunnery, and there she learned so much that she was a great clerk of necromancy. Mordred, who is usually her son of Arthur (her half-brother) and the one who kills Arthur, is represented as Morgause, Arthur’s half-sister son. Thus, the concept of the female other is there.
It adds to the main frame narrative of King Arthur having a child with his half-sister, who will inevitably be his doom. In a sense, the concept of othering the female in the Arthurian legend, considering the frame narrative, seems essential.
Simone de Beauvoir, in her 1949 classic work ‘The Second Sex’, described the construction of the “Other” as something basic to consciousness:
“Thus it is that no group ever sets itself up as the One without at once setting up the Other over against itself…the subject can be posed only in being opposed — he sets himself up as the essential, as opposed to the other, the inessential, the object.”
It is like a basic sense of the construction of the consciousness to familiarise with the exotic. However, if so, would that not pose a question for the ‘other-ed’ female also to have a consciousness that frames and ‘others’ the male in the form of opposition and rejects the framed ‘othering’ the male imposed?
Traced In “Merlin”
In Merlin, Morgan is the sweet, kind, and innocent princess who has a crush on Prince Arthur Pendragon while Uther Pendragon, his father, sits on the throne of Camelot, where witchcraft is forbidden and its penalty is death.
To the extent that Pendragons eradicated the druids of the time. She has no idea that Uther Pendragon is her father, that Arthur is her younger half-brother, Gorlois is only her adopted dead father, and that she is not only the friend but also the younger sister of the executed Morgause.
Arthur looked down upon her all the time when it came to handling a sword, no matter how much she proved herself worthy. Nevertheless, Arthur still dared to ask what had happened that had made her the evil villain who wanted revenge and the throne:
“Arthur: I’m sorry about what our father did to you.
Morgana: Uther was never my father.
Arthur: But we are brother and sister.
Morgana: Funny how you chose to remember that with my dagger at your back.
Arthur: What happened to you, Morgana? As a child, you were so kind, so compassionate.
Morgana: I grew up.” (“Arthurs Bane Part II”).
The throne is rightfully Morgan’s as she is the succeeding heir after Uther Pendragon killed her older sister for acquiring magic which is inherently in both sisters’ blood from their mother’s side.
“Morgana: Magic Has No Place In Camelot, It Never Will. Not Until I Take The Throne. Please Spare Me. I Only Want What’s Rightfully Mine.”
Presumably, a female is framed as the other to be able to exist in the time of man. Thus, De Beauvoir first voiced her theories of women’s oppression, proposing that the heart of the problem is that women are framed by men as “the Other” while men are the self and the subject.
Traced In “Dragon Age”
Throughout the Dragon Age videogame franchise, Morgan appears as the exotic, mysterious, and seductive strong mage capable of necromancy, shapeshifting, and many other secrets of reincarnation.
Morgan, as a character in this medium, is unyielding and powerful. She is either a powerful ally or a worthy rival to the player. Morgan’s character will always choose to protect her own and will do whatever it takes to see her vision through.
The playthrough determines the relation and choices that have consequences that will influence the narrative of how the game develops. She may seem enchanting and entertaining, but her mystical, exotic representation will not accept a double frame:
Morgan: “Magic thrives on use. A mage who fears her magic cannot master it. When the demons come calling, she will not have the strength to deny them. The Circles are a cage made from fear. I cannot decide who is more stupid: the ones who built the cage, or the ones who allow themselves to be put in it.” (Dragon Age: The Last Court).
Morgan already seems to have her prejudgement of men as an anti-frame to counter her representation subtly from her continuous sarcasm, remarks, and comments:
Morgan: “Men are always willing to believe two things about a woman: one, that she is weak, and two, that she finds him attractive.” (Dragon Age: Origins).
In Selinger’s Portraying Women as De Beauvoir’s ‘Other’: Fictional Representation of Women and Gender;
“That is, men define themselves from the same perspective and place from which they perceive themselves, operating in a world that is imbued with their own point of view. Women, on the other hand, are the Other that is not self or subject, but object, because they do not define themselves; men define them.”
However, with Morgan of Dragon Age, a man defining her would not be possible because she only gives what she wants the player to believe as a mirage. The truth behind the lies would be in having the ability to tell if it is a lie to begin with because Morgan never lies, but she speaks of wisdom and riddles, which adds to the exotic frame of her character’s representation.
The Stereotypical Antagonist
Traced In Mort D’Arthur
In literature, according to The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, an antagonist is the main character’s principal opponent. In this medium, Morgan is not the main antagonist, but she is depicted as an evil enchantress:
“And there Sir Lancelot took the fairest lady by the hand that ever he saw, and she was naked as a needle; and by enchantment Queen Morgan le Fay and the Queen of Northgalis had put her there in that pains, because she was called the fairest lady of that country; and there she had been five years, and never might she be delivered out of her great pains unto the time the best knight of the world had taken her by the hand.” (Malory, 1903).
She is depicted as the ‘queen Morgan Le Fay’ who is jealous of the beauty of the ‘fairest lady,’ who is a ‘damsel in distress’ waiting for her ‘knight’ in shining armor– Sir Lancelot, to ‘take her by the hand’ and save her from the evil jealous enchantress.
Traced In “Merlin”
In this medium, Morgan is a hidden antagonist. She was perceived as a threat when she came to attain the power of her own– magic, in a place where magic was frowned upon– Camelot:
Morgan: “You Don’t Know What It’s Like To Be An Outsider. To Always Be Afraid. To Be Ashamed Of How You Were Born. To Have To Hide Who You Are!” (“The Hollow Queen”).
She was only a frightened person who was scared of the unknown. Her pursuit was different from what she had faced. She accepted herself, not dissociating herself as the other. She accepted her powers as a gift and decided to fight to become a queen worthy of her people to regain and reign Camelot and died trying.
“Morgana: You don’t know, how much I regret everything that I’ve done. I just, hope that you can forgive me.”
Morgan was a person who craved existence and validation. Initially, her aim was not to hurt others but to understand her identity. However, her people hurt her, betrayed her, and left her broken without meaning to do so and apologize for the pain she had to endure, from torture to losing loved ones and family to being betrayed and lied to by friends who tried to murder her and backstab her for fear of what she might become. Eventually, she becomes the antagonist, her character’s representation in this medium.
Traced In “Dragon Age”
Morgan’s antagonism in Dragon Age is not clear-cut. Instead, she denounces promises made for what she believes to be the greater good with a prejudgement of humans.
“Mankind blunders through the world, crushing what it does not understand; elves, dragons, magic…the list is endless. We must stem the tide, or be left with nothing more than the mundane. This I know to be true.” (Dragon Age: Inquisition).
Morgan craves justice and power in this medium, which may be because she believes that justice is greater than compassion, and power aids her in protecting her own. However, there is no telling what Morgan will do:
“Change is coming to the world. Many fear change and will fight it with every fiber of their being. But sometimes, change is what they need the most. Sometimes, change is what sets them free.” (Dragon Age: Origins).
Morgan’s sense of protection is there, or so it can be traced in her words. She holds accountability to humanity even though she may sound like she frowns upon them for their discrimination against mages and endless massacres.
In the end, if Morgan is not a damsel in distress or an exotic other, she might as well fill in as the stereotypical opposing antagonist when she speaks up and asks to take back what is rightfully her’s.
Morgan is only one of the characters that survived through, but burning women at the stake because they were found guilty of witchcraft was something that would take place in medieval times, even as a result of ignorantly framing a woman as a seductive enchantress at that time.
Still, against all odds, Le Fay started in medieval times and survived by existing in many forms through different mediums. Such as the three different mediums the article used for elaboration.
Whether it is for the fact that Le Fay
- Was an actual witch/ person using witchcraft,
- Had an enchanting role in the tale, or
- Was merely lucky to exist this long;
It does not change the fact that she managed to defy the frames of time and space by surviving up to this point in time. Out of the time frames, the article highlighted two: the feminine exotic other and the stereotypical antagonist. The article also broke the frame of space by tracing three mediums from different times and natures.
-The Witch Shall Never Die-
