Dudes
of the Round Table
Mark
Twain’s 1889 fable, A Connecticut Yankee
in King Arthur’s Court, relates the “Excellent Adventures” of a modern
(circa 1889) man magically transported back to King Arthur’s time – think, steam-punk Bill and Ted (Dude!).
The
Connecticut the title-Yankee left behind was a society that had, for the most part, abandoned
its earlier reverence for the divine right of kings, inherited titles, and
aristocracy; that is, except for anglophile dudes and dudesses:
Of
course that taint, that reverence for rank and title, had been in our American
blood, too – I know that; but when I left America it had disappeared – at least
to all intents and purposes. The remnant
of it was restricted to the dudes and dudesses.
When a disease has worked its way down to that level, it may fairly be
said to be out of the system.
King
Arthur’s Court, on the other hand, was peopled by dudes – Iron Dudes.
Daniel Carter Beard’s illustration depicts one such “Ye
Iron Dude” of King Arthur’s Court - a sort-of early Sir Robin:
Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, 1889; Illustrations by Daniel Carter Beard. |
No comments:
Post a Comment