Hello fellow readers,
I’m back with a new idea: reimagining Batman as a modern-day medieval knight, inspired by my studies linking Middle English romance literature to the first live concert I attended for the 1989 Batman film, starring Michael Keaton as Batman and Jack Nicholson as the Joker.
Let’s dive in!
To begin, medieval romance is defined by themes such as chivalric honour, quests, courtly love, trials, and the heroic knight’s morals and ethics. These recurring motifs shape romance texts. Andrea Hopkins defines medieval romances as “dealing with the deepest human concerns: growth to maturity, testing virtue through adventure, courage, fear, sorrow, anger, loyalty, and love”, all of which are present in the Batman franchise, from the comics to the films.
The ‘Dark Knight’
The city of Gotham fits within the gothic genre, from its lighting and art to its setting and even Batman himself. The story begins with Bruce Wayne’s traumatic childhood event: witnessing his parents’ murder. Swearing vengeance, he adopts the Batman alias and follows the vigilante arc, fighting crime in Gotham City and protecting innocent civilians.
The term and concept of the ‘Dark Knight’ originated from the 1986 comic book mini-series titled Batman: The Dark Knight, named by writer Frank Miller. There were several comic issues after this, including the use of the term, which became integral to the franchise and highly influential and later adapted for the film. Heather Duda, in her book The Monster Hunter in Modern Popular Culture, states that Batman is called the Dark Knight for a reason and that, “dark is not so much referring to the fact that he works at night or that he wears a black suit. Instead, the “dark” here refers to the soul of the Caped Crusader which may or not be every bit as tainted as those he captures” (Duda, pg. 70). This is a common trope of the heroic vigilante and a question of moral identity of good vs evil. Do heroic knights participate in moral conduct by killing their enemies and those they consider to be evil? Does evil for these knights consist of rival knights, or is this a case of kill or be killed? Batman is no saint, as he strictly abides by his no-killing rule. In medieval literature, knights engage in combat and can only overcome their enemies/rivals by killing them. The time periods differ, but both heroes violate their chivalric codes by committing murder. Batman is a knight who protects his city, but by not killing his enemies, he allows them the chance of continued combat, which is not ideal, as there will always be crime committed by showing leniency. Medieval knights eliminate their enemies, but face the problem of vengeful knights and rivals for position and status. There are two sides to this seemingly never-ending problem that may never be resolved.
Identity / Disguise
During the day, Batman is referred to as Playboy billionaire Bruce Wayne, who transforms into an entirely different disguise at night to fit into the role of the masked vigilante. Disguise of identity is sometimes the starting point for a knight on his quest or facing trials of adventure or endurance, whether this be in a tournament, to hide his true identity by imitating someone of lower status, or to court romantic love. The medieval knight was defined by his armour, as armour is a fundamental trope in romance, signifying the knight’s true identity and self-honour. The bat-suit and cape serve as Bruce’s armour, concealing his double life and identity and allowing him to play a parallel character to fight crime in the dark.
Across medieval tradition, there is the archetype of the mysterious Black Knight, who functions as either a hero or a villain clad in black armour. This knight serves as a test of chivalric virtue and an obstacle for the heroic knight, typically found in Arthurian legends. The Black Knight remains a mystery throughout medieval literature, unidentifiable, bearing no crest other than the colour of his armour, unlike Batman, who is known by the bat signal (a symbol of the bat). This symbol serves as a call for help and alerts Bruce Wayne to any crimes Gotham City faces, only made possible by modern technology. The medieval period experienced this differently, as their source of information came from legends or stories that were brought into the kingdom by a messenger and told to the knights.
The Chivalric Knight
When we think of medieval knights, the image of a ‘knight in shining armour’ comes to mind, or the act of an honourable hero saving a damsel in distress. They represent qualities such as courage, bravery, honour, resilience, respect and many more. Batman features many of these traits, and he is shown as regularly saving damsels in distress; there are, however, many female characters that embody these same traits in the same universe, throughout the comics and films. I would argue that the image of a ‘knight in shining armour’ does not apply to Batman; depending on the film or universe he appears in, some portray the batsuit as shiny and others as matte black. The reason why this concept would not apply is due to the fact that his identity is supposed to blend into and hide in the shadows, absorbing light, unlike a medieval knight whose armour reflects light. For more information on the medieval knight and chivalry, for those who are interested in learning more, there is a video that can be found here, by Laura Bailey, University of Cambridge, where she goes through the history and concepts of the chivalric knight.
These are a few characteristics that I have linked with the Batman universe and medieval knighthood. I hope, after reading this your view of Batman has been enlightened and you are now able to connect the modern vigilante to medieval heroes. This is a brief summary of a future paper that I intend to write, and any comments or information on this topic are more than welcome.
References
Duda, Heather. The Monster Hunter in Modern Popular Culture. McFarland & Co, 2008.
Miller, Frank. Batman: The Dark Knight. DC Comics, 1986.
