Trickery and Mistaken Identity Theme Analysis

Le Morte d’Arthur begins with a search for an unknown king, one who, by the workings of fate, will be the only one able to pull the enchanted sword Excalibur from the stone. In this case, enchantment ensures that the true king will be properly identified, but as is often the case in Le Morte d’Arthur, trickery—magical and otherwise—also disrupts social norms and confuses more than it reveals.

Like Arthur, Sir Gareth, another knight, is also seemingly without a past as he first makes his appearance, and his several quests can be understood as an attempt to prove himself—that is, prove his true identity as an honorable, chivalrous knight (and one with noble blood). The book shows just how much many will risk in this society to prove their identity to themselves and to others. At other times, however, identity cannot be so easily pinned down—and this is especially the case among the knights, who in battle are covered with armor and only identified by their shields or “colors,” which can be easily changed. Because of the various levels of concealment at work in the kingdom, Arthur does not really know where he comes from even after being anointed king. He unknowingly sleeps with his half-sister Margawse as a result, leading to a whole host of fated complications. The tragic element of mistaken identity is also evident in Balin and Balan’s fight to the death: they both kill each other and realize only at the moment of death that they are brothers.

While mistaken identity can often be an element of tragic fate, at other times such mix-ups are a consequence of conscious trickery. The book seems to hold the view that men are particularly vulnerable to the tricks of women: Launcelot, for instance, is tricked into sleeping with Elaine of Corbin, while Merlin is tricked into being magically sealed in a cave by the woman he loves, Nimue.

With all these examples of trickery and mistaken identity, the reader is on constantly shifting ground, never quite knowing which characters are which and who means what in the book. As a kind of literary masked ball, these stories show such trickery to be entertaining, to be sure, especially as Malory’s characters often purposefully disguise themselves in order to confuse or impress others. But Malory is also writing at a tumultuous moment in English history, when the members of warring dynasties often switched sides and alliances, so Malory’s emphasis on trickery also reflects a broader insecurity with people’s identity in society.