I feel certain that I've seen "stream of consciousness insanity" elsewhere in 1930s books, but as often happens when I try to think of a specific example I'm turning up empty. (It's also been quite some time since I read South Riding!)
The May Babies story is such a tour de force, because Kay reaches peak Done with Everyone energy while he's telling it, and yet at the same time he never condemns Arthur - after all the guy is still his sovereign, and while he may scoff mightily at him, actually breaking the bonds of fealty is clearly a bridge too far for him.
It's interesting how Karr modernizes the characters (as you say, Kay sometimes feels like he comes from modernity or at least Common Sense Land) but in certain ways their thinking is still SO foreign. Like Morgan's whole thing about getting Lancelot to impregnate her because he is the best knight and therefore has the best seed and they would make the best baby together. Well, that's one reason to keep a knight imprisoned for a year so he can paint incriminating and criminally bad murals about his affair with Guenevere on your walls...
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The May Babies story is such a tour de force, because Kay reaches peak Done with Everyone energy while he's telling it, and yet at the same time he never condemns Arthur - after all the guy is still his sovereign, and while he may scoff mightily at him, actually breaking the bonds of fealty is clearly a bridge too far for him.
It's interesting how Karr modernizes the characters (as you say, Kay sometimes feels like he comes from modernity or at least Common Sense Land) but in certain ways their thinking is still SO foreign. Like Morgan's whole thing about getting Lancelot to impregnate her because he is the best knight and therefore has the best seed and they would make the best baby together. Well, that's one reason to keep a knight imprisoned for a year so he can paint incriminating and criminally bad murals about his affair with Guenevere on your walls...