"I'm No Superman"

How many times have we found ourselves saying, "I totally wouldn't do that" or "Well, it's different for me because...?" It's easy for us to criticize things when we are on the outside looking in, and then find it quite humbling when we are in a similar situation. Many people have found Morgaine's behavior in The Mists of Avalon less than admirable. What happened to that strong, athletic girl who kicked Lancelot's butt at hiking and won our hearts for it? How come the girl who shamelessly showed off her legs is now yearning to cover them...and all because of a guy? What happened to our heroine? A girl worth admiring should be tough, ruthless, and too confident take any negativity from anybody. Right?

Wrong. Girls have feelings. People having feelings, and Morgaine knows it. Consider the passage at the very beginning of the section,

"Anger was mixed with affection, to neither of which she was allowed to give voice, and it did strange things to her mind. She wondered at herself, because she had been taught to control her emotions as she controlled her words and even her thoughts."

Morgaine knew she was imperfect. She felt anger, she felt conflicted, and in this way it makes me love her more when she has her moments of confidence. Morgaine is a real woman, and in this way I feel that the story is more feminist than if she was written as an untouchable, godly figure. Similar to many girls, including me (especially me...) she is smart, skilled, and special, but resorts to self loathing when the man she likes rejects her for somebody...prettier.

The Ugly Duckling

I don't know about many of you, but my mind immediately went to middle and high school during this part of the story. (Time to recall blocked out memories...yay!) How many of us have been given attention by that special person? How many of us have skipped home from the bus stop because the cutest person in the world looked in our direction, smiled at us, asked to be our partner for a project? And how many of us have ran home crying when that person has chosen someone else over us, especially when we feel that their new sweetheart is better than who we could ever be?

Luckily, not all guys are like this

 There's a complete change in emotions when this happens. One day you feel like you're walking on air, and the next you're noticing every flaw you have...the zit on your nose, your awkward hair, your extra fat, or lack of. Our self image, which should be dependent on ourselves, is dependent on the other person. And while this is wrong, while we look back at our younger selves and laugh, many of us are prone to doing it even today. I'm not calling us Hood College Arthurians needy, whiny people, I'm just saying we are human. And that when Morgaine is filled with sorrow, she is being human too.

It's this human side in characters that I love. It was brought out in Morgaine's flirtiness, her desires, her dreams, and in her shame. It was brought out in a fallen Arthur, asking the million dollar question, "Are people truly good?"