This paper examines four retellings of the Arthurian legend of Guinevere and Lancelot from a bio-evolutionary perspective.
The historical and social conditions which provide contexts for the retellings are described, and those conditions are related
to underlying male and female reproductive strategies. Since the authors of the selected texts, Chrétien de Troyes, Thomas
Malory, Alfred Lord Tennyson, and William Morris, are all male, the assumption is made that these versions of the legend reflect
male reproductive preoccupations and encode male attitudes toward femaleness in general and toward female adultery in particular.
Key words Arthurian legend - Evolution - Reproduction - Mating - Male competition - Male bonding - Female choice
Margaret Nesse is an independent scholar, free-lance writer, and semi-professional singer. She holds B.A. and M.A. degrees
in English Literature. She has taught on the elementary and college levels, most recently in the Department of English at
Eastern Michigan University. She is currently taking a leave of absence from teaching to work on a novel.