Initially the Vinaver theory that Malory’s eight romances, once thought to
be fundamentally unified, were in fact eight independent works produced both a
sense of relief and an unpleasant shock. Vinaver’s theory comfortably explained
away the apparent contradictions of chronology and made each romance independently
satisfying. It was, however, disagreeable to find that what had been thought of
as one book was now eight books. Part of this response was the natural reaction
to the disturbance of set ideas. Nevertheless, even now, after lengthy
consideration of the theory’s refined but legitimate observations, one cannot
avoid the conclusion that the eight romances are only one work. It is not quite
a matter of disagreeing with the theory of independence, but of rejecting its
implications: that the romances may be taken in any or no particular order,
that they have no cumulative effect, and that they are as separate as the works
of a modern novelist.
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