Previous
Dramatic Irony
Definition of Ethos
Ethos, along with logos and pathos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Ethos is an argument that appeals to... read full definition
Ethos, along with logos and pathos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Ethos is... read full definition
Ethos, along with logos and pathos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective... read full definition
Book 1
Explanation and Analysis—Bleise:
In Volume 1, Book 1, Chapter 17, Merlin goes to see his teacher, Bleise. Malory does not fully characterize Bleise, who is a figure from older Arthurian lore, but rather alludes to him in a way that helps establish his own authority as a storyteller (in a rhetorical tactic called ethos):
And there [Merlin] told how Arthur and the two kings had sped at the great battle, and how it was ended, and told the names of every king and knight of worship that was there. And so Bleise wrote the battle word by word, as Merlin told him how it began, and by whom, and in likewise how it was ended, and who had the worse. All the battles that were done in Arthur’s days, Merlin did his master Bleise do write; also he did do write all the battles that every worthy knight did of Arthur’s court.
Bleise, or Blaise, appears in many stories about Merlin and Arthur. He is a chronicler, or someone who writes (usually compellingly) about history for the history books. We might think of him today as something between a historian and a journalist, and definitely one who knows how to tell a great story that will stand up generations later. He is also Merlin's teacher in some accounts. Malory suggests that in his version of this world, Bleise holds both of these roles ("master" means, essentially, "teacher").
By alluding to Bleise as a historian of Arthur's court, Malory draws a parallel between himself and Bleise. Malory is writing about the death of King Arthur, but along the way, he too is writing of "all the battles that every worthy knight did of Arthur's court." He is also making claims, both direct and indirect, about the political landscape in his own time, anchoring current events to mystical events from the past that may or may not have happened. The connection Malory draws between himself and Bleise illuminates the book's borderline status between historical document and legend. Within the Arthurian world, Bleise is someone who records historical events. But he is also a legendary figure who appears in different ways in different versions of Arthurian lore. If he is the one who has recorded many of the events in the lore, he seems as motivated to tell a good story as he is to preserve history. In writing about King Arthur's court, Malory is claiming to write a historical text (and pieces of it do have a tenuous basis in history), but he is also consolidating many sometimes-contradictory stories that are more folkloric than historical. Just as Bleise is a part of the legend and also a chronicler of the legend, Malory too sees himself as deeply entangled with both legend and history. Alluding to Bleise helps him establish his own authority as a chronicler of legendary proportions.
Related Themes:
