The Mists of Avalon
by Marion Zimmer Bradley

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Book Reviews of The Mists of Avalon

Book Review: "Mists of Avalon" or Pure Vapour?
Summary: 3 Stars

There is no discounting that Marion Zimmer Bradley deserves accolades in her portrayal of Arthurian women as individuals who have a voice of their own, psychologically and socially. Her female characters defy stereotyping in their multiple psychological traits. To name a few, Morgan is both justified lover of Arthur, as well as a justified priestess of Avalon, despite her reputation as a harlot amongst the circles of the clergy and the Christian court; Guinevere is more than just a frail woman seeking for love from both her husband and Lancelot, for intertwined with her fate is also the fate of the rule of Camelot and the predominance of the Christian faith in court. But the real problem with such character portrayals and the depiction of such acute characters lies not so much with their lack of autonomy which Bradley steers clear of more than the absolute anachronism that Bradley falls into. As pertinent to most fantasy and fiction based on a historical world or time period which really existed, in this case, Dark Ages Britain, Bradley does not use the novel to reveal mimetically the mentalities and mindsets of women living in the Dark Ages. Under the novel is a suspected veneer of women in our modern society who are struggling against social mores of sexual and religious discrimination (such as the Wiccans of the Dianic tradition persecuted by the fundamentalist Christians, and the anti-feminist backlash). The novel appears to be more of a treatise for modern feminism disguised under a romance plot of paganism, magic and human history and pageantry.

Men are, however, portrayed with very little space for depth, and Lancelot and Arthur's characterization are particularly problematic. Lancelot turns into a medieval equivalent of a 'closet' homosexual who confesses his love for Arthur before Morgan le Fay; Arthur becomes nothing more than an indecisive wimp who turns to swear allegiance to Avalon by bearing its holy regalia--the blade of Excalibur and its scabbard--and then betraying it to bear a Christian banner in battle instead of his father's battle banner(the Pendragon's dragon-emblazoned banner) when advised so by Guinevere. The mention of the menage a trois between Lancelot, Arthur and Guinevere starts taking on more homoerotic overtones and it seems to be an implication of a love story or affair between Arthur and Lancelot than between Lancelot and Guinevere.

The problems of characterization, coupled with the remarkable slant towards proselytizing a belief system of "All the gods are as One", do seem to get in the way of an audience's possible whole-hearted enjoyment of the novel without critical intervention. The risk of "The Mists of Avalon" turning into pure ephemeral vapour is the biggest risk that Bradley possibly has to incur in her attempt to be historically anachronistic and to be unapologetic about it.

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