The circumstances leading to the creation of A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur’s Court (1889) can be traced back to 1884 when, on a lecture tour together, George Washington Cable gave Mark Twain a copy of Thomas Mallory’s Morte d’ Arthur. Twain began reading the book and on December 3 recorded in his journal the source of the story:
Dream[ed] of being a knight errant in the middle ages. Have the notions and habits of thought of the present day mixed with the necessities of that. No pockets in the armor. No way to manage certain requirements of nature. . . . Can’t dress or undress myself. Always getting struck by lightning. Fall down can’t get up. See Morte d’Arthur. (Smith, 107)
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Citation: Loges, Max Lester. "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 January 2010 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7235, accessed 24 November 2024.]
