Problematic Love Throughout the Ill-Made Knight, Lancelot is exposed to the difficulties and obstacles of love within simple and complex relationships. White examines different types of love within Lancelot’s relationships with Arthur, God, Elaine, and Guenevere. He shows Lancelot’s efforts to please others and his internal struggle because of it. T.H. White highlights the problems of love and how it can destroy one’s view of themselves and cause them to make irrational decisions. White explores Lancelot’s self-hatred and moral dilemmas to show how love can influence an individual’s thoughts and actions. In the Ill-Made Knight the love in friendships, one’s moral values, and romantic love are examined and ultimately shows the abstract and …show more content…
As the novel goes on, Arthur and Lancelot form a close bond and soon form a trust between one another. Arthur distills such a great trust and support for Lancelot that he makes him a knight at the Round Table. The idea of Philos love is shown through their close friendship and mutual love. Although Lancelot loves Arthur, he betrays him by having an affair with his wife, which destroys the trust in their relationship. Arthur is aware of Lancelot’s dishonesty and doesn't make an overbearing effort to confort Lancelot about the affair. The weakening of the two friends’ relationship leads Lancelot to feel guilt for weakening the friendship, and leads to him asking Guinevere if they should tell Arthur. He tells Guinevere INSERT QUOTE. White shows this mistrust because it how temptation to do wrong can result in the destruction of friendships. Lancelot and Arthur both know that their trust and faith in one another has been broken, but they continue to deny that they have permanently damaged their friendship. Their relationship represents more than the struggle to maintain a strong friendship. It symbolizes the human desire to hold onto love and even though the foundation of trust and security is no longer there. Through the representation of Arthur and Lancelot’s friendship, White shows the purity of friendship and how it can be greatly influenced by other
Arthur is getting cheated on but he also is getting lied to also, his love with Guinevere is real on his side but is it real for her? “In great sadness Sir Launcelot took his horse and rode away from Camelot, far into the forest of mid Britain”...” Queen Guinevere was sorry and wished very much for Launcelot to return. However, she could not show this to anyone, so instead she called her ten Knights of the Round Table and told them that she would ride a-maying with them into the woods and fields of Camelot…”(p. p. 292-293)
Arthur Dimmesdale has experienced multiple changes during the novel. During the novel, Arthur Dimmesdale has been extremely convicted about the sin he has committed because he hasn't told anyone but Hester about it. Arthur is so extremely convicted that he intentionally tried to hurt himself every day in order to cope with his horrible sin. To avoid telling anyone, Hester, Pearl, and Arthur plan to board a Spanish ship headed to Europe. Arthur and Hester believe that in doing this, he will not be as convicted and will be able to live a happy and wonderful life with Hester and Pearl.
Lancelot often becomes suspicions of his lover over small acts. Both of these examples from the books are small acts that caused Lancelot considerable suspicion of his beloved. A kiss causes him to believe she didn’t have feelings for him and a logical argument for why they shouldn’t get together on one night made him think that she’d rather be with Arthur then him. These slight presumptions caused Lancelot to suspect his love,
Because of Arthur’s denial of Guinevere's affair with Lancelot, Mordred seizes his opportunity to accuse Guinevere, which causes Arthur to stage her “execution” and her rescue. Because of this, Gaheris and Gareth are placed in danger, and killed by Lancelot in his rampage, as well as many other soldiers who were only doing their duty. “” (White #) However, this has wider repercussions, and Mordred and Agravaine use Lancelot’s crime of “treason” to persuade some of the knights of the Round Table to follow his ideas. This culminates in a battle between his followers and Arthur’s, and ultimately ends in Arthur’s death, marking the end of his kingdom. “” (White #) All of Mordred’s actions would never have occurred if not for Guinevere’s affair. The chain of events causing Camelot’s collapse would never have happened if Guinevere had not loved both Arthur and
Lancelot’s affair with Guenever leads to the downfall of Camelot and the death of many of Arthur’s knights. White uses this example to illustrate the danger of allowing personal desirse to cloud one’s judgment. Lancelot’s lack of wisdom and compassion ultimately leads to his own downfall, as well as the downfall of those around him. In contrast, the author depicts King Arthur as a wise and compassionate leader.
Lancelot is aware that he must maintain his composure and control his desires in order to see what his heart truly seeks: the Holy Grail. When he is outside the room where it is discovered, he is cautioned not to enter on the grounds that he has no privilege to. In spite of the fact that he shows himself to be loyal at first, when Lancelot sees a priest "struggling" at the sanctification of mass, he rapidly goes inside to help him. Immediately, he faces the consequences. Before Lancelot goes in, he says, “Ah!
Guinevere’s desire for Lancelot becomes so strong that Lancelot can not defeat it and it becomes nearly impossible to avoid her. Chretien makes Lancelot look just like a puppet while Marie makes Arthur look like one as well. Both authors make Guinevere desire men besides her own husband. In Chretien’s Lancelot, Guinevere has full control over Lancelot. Lancelot is so passionately in love, that he looks foolish which makes Guinevere look more intelligent.
“Love led us on to one death” says Francesca (). She portrays herself as helpless and defenseless against the power of love. Furthermore, she says “love…swiftly kindled in the noble heart…still injures me” (). Her repeated usage of love shows that she believes that she did nothing wrong. Love is an implacable force and thus, it overpowered and seized her.
There are a few codes of chivalry that he breaks because of Gwynevere. In a way he betrays King Arthur by staying as a guest in the palace knowing he will be able to be around Gwynevere and possibly tempt her. Lancelot’s only motivation to become a knight is Gwynevere and to still remain in Camalot. Even though he is a strong Knight that saves people, his weakens is a very small but powerful thing called love/
Lancelot was so gracious that even despite Queen Guenievre acting ungrateful for his efforts at first, he does not object to her words. Instead, like a “perfect lover”(The Knight of the Cart, p. 256) he apologizes and takes his leave, careful to not upset her further. This further demonstrates his loyalty to his
After all three of them being together talking, Lancelot and Guinevere decide to take it a step further with each other since they had sensed their feelings for each other when she kept touching his arm as a tease. Lancelot becomes weak and guilty for doing this to his bestfriend behind his back. Not only his bestfriend, but a King that you were supposed to respect and stay loyal to. Disobeying the king was the reason why the code was broken by Sir
Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere have been sleeping together this makes both him and the queen unloyal to King Arthur. Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere’s sin could have had them both killed for adultery. Sir Launcelot made it his very priority to protect the queen.
Sir Lancelot was loyal to King Arthur, which shows part of the Chivalry code. Chivalry is show agains when Sir Lancelot and King Arthur battle themselves. This shows Chivalry on both sides of King Arthur and Sir Lancelot. They battle to the death. “Yet Some men say in many parts of England that King Arthur is not dead, but carried by the will of the Lord Jesus to another place”(195).
First Knight display some of the classical aspects of chivalry, with the most prominent aspect being loyalty as is demonstrated in the repeated use of the pledge that the Knights of the Round Table say to each other during initiation ceremonies and during crucial moments of the film, "Brother to brother. Yours in life and death." Lancelot is shown as a flawed man, but an incredibly masculine and chivalrous one and those qualities allow him to be redeemed of his affair with Guinevere and he gains the recognition from Arthur as the quintessential knight moments before Arthur's death, "My truest. My first knight." This is an accurate depiction of the Arthurian lore in the sense that Lancelot's chivalrous nature was enough to earn the forgiveness of Arthur because of Arthur's extremely chivalrous nature, but the rest of the characterizations of Lancelot are more reflective of modern chivalry.
The first character I will be analyzing is Sir Gawain. Sir Gawain is one of the main characters within this story. In the beginning of the story, we see that Sir Gawain is full of optimism, eagerness, and loyalty to protect his king and his kingdom from the Green Knight. Sir Gawain is seen as the embodiment of chivalry. An example of chivalrous manners can be found such as in his speech to Arthur when he accepts the Green Knight 's challenge.