Disability and Medieval (In)Justice in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and Robin of Sherwood (1984)

In both Michael Curtiz and William Keighley’s sweeping technicolor saga The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), and Robin of Sherwood (1984-1986), the cult classic television show of the 1980s, disability justice is framed as central to Robin Hood’s subversive social mission. While this is textually explicit, it remains an under-explored aspect of these adaptations. In both the film and the series, acquired disability is linked with a medieval legal system presented as inherently abusive. Both adaptations, however, also frame the restorative work of creating anti-ableist communities as necessary and joyful labor. This essay argues that, in both The Adventures of Robin Hood and Robin of Sherwood, Robin Hood can be read as resisting contemporary oppressions, whether those of the widespread eugenics movements of the 1930s or the austerity of Thatcherite Britain. In both adaptations, the community of Sherwood is shown as socially integrating those with disabilities and thus challenging the dominant political system and its production of abledness. Moreover, these media adaptations open up possibilities in the medieval world as imagined, rejecting a portrayal of the Middle Ages in themselves as inherently oppressive.