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Popular Culture Review
had been lost, she says she found it in another form in the convent on
Glastonbury (coexistent with Avalon) when looking at a statue of the Virgin
Mary, who has assumed some of the functions of the Goddess. Other important
examples of cooperation among women include Morgaine giving Gwenwhyfar a
fertility charm, Igraine finding a wounded Morgaine and bringing her for
treatment to the convent on Glastonbury, and Morgaine and Viviane confronting
Morgause together in the climax. In a spirit that seems to pervade the film, after
Gwenwhyfar has been found with Launcelot by Mordred and his followers, she
goes to the convent for forgiveness and is met by Igraine and Morgaine. There
Gwenwhyfar and Morgaine reconcile, and Gwenwhyfar tells Morgaine she
should not have come between Arthur and his sister, and that he needs her now.
She now has learned to put others’ needs before her own, and to help other
women instead of being jealous of them.
Although Mists appears to be much more positive in its presentation of
female characters than Excalibur or Merlin, it has presented only a limited
image of a positive and complex character. Clearly, Viviane is the strongest
character in the film, and she is clearly more positive than Morgana in Excalibur
or Queen Mab in Merlin. She is also presented as manipulative of others in order
to achieve her goals and yet she is reassured by Merlin that these thi