Missing Mothers (and Sisters): More Thoughts on Female Characters on Merlin
Since next week's Merlin episode focuses on Morgause, it seemed a good time to post this.
Not long ago I had an idea for a Merlin vid, using a song that’s about parent-child relationships. The chorus uses the words “father” and “mother” fairly often, though, as as I started planning out clips I realized I had a problem.
Merlin puts a lot of emphasis on parent-child relationships, but for the most part they are father-child relationships. Arthur’s conflict with Uther is central to the series. Both Gwen and Morgana lose their fathers in tragic circumstances (with Gwen’s loss being overwhelmed by, and standing in for, Morgana’s loss) and are haunted by it.
The exception is Merlin’s mother Hunith, who is a positive and interesting character-and notably the only person Merlin ever puts before Arthur. But Merlin also has a father-figure in Gaius, and that relationship is clearly more important. It’s Gaius who appears in each episode, Gaius who tells Merlin whether his actions are good or bad, Gaius who provides most of Merlin’s emotional support. (Most of the time it’s Gaius & Merlin together that ends the episode.) And the entire series starts with Hunith sending Merlin to Gaius because he can mentor and care for him better than she can.
Arthur has a dead mommy drama, but so far doesn’t know about it (I hope this changes next week)-and the main effect of it is to cause distance in his relationship with his father. (While Uther is haunted by Igrayne’s death, Arthur has never mentioned her.) Gwen and Morgana’s mothers apparently don’t exist-in contrast to Morgana’s father Gorlois, who has not only a name but a strong influence on Morgana’s relationship with her living father-figure, Uther.
This is a curious and deliberate choice, because the Arthurian legends don’t lack for female characters. Most recent retellings (which have clearly influenced this show) have Arthur’s mother Igrayne outliving Uther. Arthur usually has a whole passel of full and/or half sisters (sometimes aunts)-anywhere between one and four (sometimes including Anna, Morgana, Morgause, Elaine, Vivian, Nimuë)-with important plot functions; the show opted for one foster-sister in Morgana.
Both Welsh and French versions of the story gave Guinevere an identical twin sister. (Can you imagine how cool it would be if this show included two black women who regularly talked to each other? Or if Angel Coulby played two characters?) And Geoffrey of Monmouth, whom the show references heavily (the dragon, Arthur’s royal childhood, Merlin’s mother, the Merlin/Gwen ship, Geoffrey himself) for the understandable reason that he created the Merlin legend as we know it, makes the relationship between Merlin and his sister, Ganieda, central to his Life of Merlin.
Ganieda, who is highly intelligent, a queen, a friend to Merlin’s wife, and (like Merlin) a prophet, is a very strong but not unproblematic character. The Life of Merlin, written by a bishop in the twelfth century, is a misogynistic text-but it actually passes the Bechdel test, unlike most episodes of Merlin the show. (If the spoilers are right about the show exploring Merlin’s family later this season, it will be focused entirely on male characters.)
The show also hasn’t included any shout-outs to other Arthurian female characters. We’ve seen knights called Owain, Pellinore, Bedivere, and Leon-all of whom are attested in medieval sources (bizarrely, in Merlin all except Leon have died). But we haven’t seen an Enid, an Olwen, a Ragnell, or even an Elaine (and in the Arthurian legends there is always an Elaine hiding behind every corner). But that’s because we have so few female characters at all.
This isn’t shocking-the show creators are far from the first to opt for forgetting female characters from earlier versions of the legend. But it’s a choice-a series of deliberate choices made and repeated down the ages. It’s a choice to ignore and erase female characters who already exist in the tradition, or to accord them no importance.
Here’s hoping next week’s Morgause episode will shine more light on Arthur’s female family-and that Morgause won’t be evil and dead by the end of the episode.
Update: This piece is part of my ongoing series of Merlin meta (more to come!). The other pieces so far are:
How Not to Handle a Woman: The Problem with Morgana
What It Means to Me to Have a Black Guinevere
The White Mists of Avalon: Thoughts on Morgana's Race
Not long ago I had an idea for a Merlin vid, using a song that’s about parent-child relationships. The chorus uses the words “father” and “mother” fairly often, though, as as I started planning out clips I realized I had a problem.
Merlin puts a lot of emphasis on parent-child relationships, but for the most part they are father-child relationships. Arthur’s conflict with Uther is central to the series. Both Gwen and Morgana lose their fathers in tragic circumstances (with Gwen’s loss being overwhelmed by, and standing in for, Morgana’s loss) and are haunted by it.
The exception is Merlin’s mother Hunith, who is a positive and interesting character-and notably the only person Merlin ever puts before Arthur. But Merlin also has a father-figure in Gaius, and that relationship is clearly more important. It’s Gaius who appears in each episode, Gaius who tells Merlin whether his actions are good or bad, Gaius who provides most of Merlin’s emotional support. (Most of the time it’s Gaius & Merlin together that ends the episode.) And the entire series starts with Hunith sending Merlin to Gaius because he can mentor and care for him better than she can.
Arthur has a dead mommy drama, but so far doesn’t know about it (I hope this changes next week)-and the main effect of it is to cause distance in his relationship with his father. (While Uther is haunted by Igrayne’s death, Arthur has never mentioned her.) Gwen and Morgana’s mothers apparently don’t exist-in contrast to Morgana’s father Gorlois, who has not only a name but a strong influence on Morgana’s relationship with her living father-figure, Uther.
This is a curious and deliberate choice, because the Arthurian legends don’t lack for female characters. Most recent retellings (which have clearly influenced this show) have Arthur’s mother Igrayne outliving Uther. Arthur usually has a whole passel of full and/or half sisters (sometimes aunts)-anywhere between one and four (sometimes including Anna, Morgana, Morgause, Elaine, Vivian, Nimuë)-with important plot functions; the show opted for one foster-sister in Morgana.
Both Welsh and French versions of the story gave Guinevere an identical twin sister. (Can you imagine how cool it would be if this show included two black women who regularly talked to each other? Or if Angel Coulby played two characters?) And Geoffrey of Monmouth, whom the show references heavily (the dragon, Arthur’s royal childhood, Merlin’s mother, the Merlin/Gwen ship, Geoffrey himself) for the understandable reason that he created the Merlin legend as we know it, makes the relationship between Merlin and his sister, Ganieda, central to his Life of Merlin.
Ganieda, who is highly intelligent, a queen, a friend to Merlin’s wife, and (like Merlin) a prophet, is a very strong but not unproblematic character. The Life of Merlin, written by a bishop in the twelfth century, is a misogynistic text-but it actually passes the Bechdel test, unlike most episodes of Merlin the show. (If the spoilers are right about the show exploring Merlin’s family later this season, it will be focused entirely on male characters.)
The show also hasn’t included any shout-outs to other Arthurian female characters. We’ve seen knights called Owain, Pellinore, Bedivere, and Leon-all of whom are attested in medieval sources (bizarrely, in Merlin all except Leon have died). But we haven’t seen an Enid, an Olwen, a Ragnell, or even an Elaine (and in the Arthurian legends there is always an Elaine hiding behind every corner). But that’s because we have so few female characters at all.
This isn’t shocking-the show creators are far from the first to opt for forgetting female characters from earlier versions of the legend. But it’s a choice-a series of deliberate choices made and repeated down the ages. It’s a choice to ignore and erase female characters who already exist in the tradition, or to accord them no importance.
Here’s hoping next week’s Morgause episode will shine more light on Arthur’s female family-and that Morgause won’t be evil and dead by the end of the episode.
Update: This piece is part of my ongoing series of Merlin meta (more to come!). The other pieces so far are:
How Not to Handle a Woman: The Problem with Morgana
What It Means to Me to Have a Black Guinevere
The White Mists of Avalon: Thoughts on Morgana's Race