The Once And Future King Lancelot Analysis

The Arthurian Legend of Lancelot has changed throughout the ages. Subsequently, the story “Lancelot, The Knight of the Cart” by Chrétien de Troyes and the poem “Lancelot and Elaine” by Alfred Lord Tennyson have contrasting plots, but they ultimately contain the same theme. In the multiple accounts of Lancelot, his actions create unique, different situations. In turn, he must live with the consequences of his actions. Lancelot has changed, and will continue to evolve, whether it is focused on his heroism or another aspect of his character. Much of Lancelot's character and story are based off the topics of love and chivalry, and are prevalent in many of the accounts of Lancelot. Despite that the legend shifts its focus from Lancelot’s chivalrous

According to chivalry, the ideal twelfth century knight should have upheld the values of Chretien de Troye’s The Knight of the Cart – honor, fidelity, and the drive to protect and serve the helpless. For example, “if a knight encountered a damsel or girl alone – be she lady or maidserant – he would as soon cut his throat as treat her dishonorably, if he prized his good name [emphasis mine]” (223). The fault lies in that statement, rephrased and added as a qualifier to the courtly standards mentioned throughout the story: the purpose of chivalry, above all, was to ensure that the knight maintained a reputation that was above reproach. Chretien does not

The primary way in which Lancelot asserts his masculinity in Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur is through his chivalric prowess. His prowess is incomparable, as any masculine display is too easy for Lancelot. Lancelot cannot be defeated, and in most cases his combat is not closely contested, because of his significant superiority. Although, size and brute strength do not, by themselves, make an ideal knight. Lancelot is also a handsome and modest man. Lancelot’s ideal behavioural characteristics can be seen when Sir Ector says, “Thou were the head of all Christian knights! And now I dare say, thou Sir Lancelot, there thou liest, that thou were never matched of earthy knight’s hand! And thou were the courteous knight that ever bare shield! And thou were the truest friend to thy lover that ever bestrad horse, and thou were the truest lover of a sinful man that ever loved a woman, and thou were the kindest man that ever strake with a sword. And thou were the godliest person that ever came among press of knights…’” (Malory 225). On his deathbed, Lancelot is cascaded in a shower of compliments, where it is made clear to the audience how well regarded a knight Lancelot was. In both physical and behavioural aspects,

However, the specific circumstances in which Sir Lancelot and Sir Gareth confront other knights suggests two different notions of behaviour expected of a knight. Although Lancelot is revered by his fellow knights, the “worship and honour” (95) that he receives appears to derive entirely from his skill with a sword or spear. Consequently, as there are no knights willing to engage in combat with Lancelot, not even those “thirty great knights” (114), who are “armed all in black harness, ready with their shields and swords drawn” (115) for battle, Lancelot’s spear — his masculinity — is literally and symbolically restrained by his own reputation as a warrior and a lover in Book III of Malory’s text. Lancelot’s reputation not only drives Morgan le Fay to “put an enchantment upon” (98) him and strip him of “[his] armour, [his] horse, shield, and spear” (99), but also makes his potential combatants “scatter on every side” (115) to let him proceed on his adventure, unchallenged. The palpable fear that Sir Lancelot’s potential foes display in the presence of an identified Lancelot, who “bears his [own] shield” (114) in battle, is significant because it reveals that Lancelot is only able to maintain his reputation as the greatest “knight of the world” (119) with deceptive acts, such as using a “white shield” (102) with “no pictures” (102) of identification painted on its surface or “saving” damsels in forests with prearranged acts of bravery. Nonetheless, the general uneasiness, or outright hostility, that Lancelot’s enemies display upon meeting an identified Lancelot is of immense significance because it suggests that there is a dark undertone to Lancelot’s character. In Janet Jesmok’s “The Double Life of Malory’s Lancelot du Lake,” she suggests that

Lancelot and Gawain are two knightly figures in Sir Thomas Malory's Morte D'arthur. However, reading through the section in class, there is some evidence that shows that Sir Gawain is the bigger man compared to Sir Lancelot. For instance, in Guinevere’s presence, Sir Lancelot becomes instantly distracted and starts swooning. For instance, there is a part where Sir Lancelot is so crazy in love with Guinevere he almost falls out a window. However, Gawain comes to the rescue. Compared to Gawain, Lancelot is easily influenced by his emotions. Another example is when Lancelot asks Guinevere for a kiss after she told him she was becoming a nun. He disrespected her wish to leave her past behind and had the audacity to ask for something so selfish.

Countless people have had their hearts broken due to cheating and deception. However, in the Arthurian legend, these disastrous love triangles have much more devastating consequences. One story in the Arthurian legend is of Iseult, King Mark, and the knight Tristan, and their eventual demise as a result of their love triangle. Then, before King Arthur was even conceived, his father Uther and the Duke Gorlois fought over over Igraine, and waged a war over her, costing many lives. Finally, Lancelot’s affair with Arthur and Queen Guinevere set off a chain of actions that destroy the kingdom of Camelot. In the Arthurian legend, love triangles always have fatal consequences and never end well between its constituents.

While the main character of The Wife Of Bath’s Tale began with little respect or understanding of women, after undergoing a long journey and learning valuable lessons, he seemed to better understand women, and give them equal respect. Several events from the story in particular triggered this change in the Knight: his initial punishment, reaction to the old woman’s request, and his decision on their wedding night.

Medieval narratives were full of serious events, royalty, battles, and adventure. In the movie, “Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail,” everything is changed into a mockery. The events in the narratives that once seemed so serious become a joke. The battles that had meaning now are humorous and the “noble quests” are more of a child’s made up adventure. Chivalry is dead, and it does not even seem like it ever existed. The themes of medieval narratives compared to the themes in the movie greatly differ.

Medieval romance was taken seriously during its time. Not only did men/knights have to follow rules and codes about war, but also about romance. “Defend the weak and innocent”(chivalry code), is one of the many codes that Sir Lancelot followed. In the film, Sir Lancelot helped Gwynevere escape from Malagant’s men as they jumped her carriage. From there him and Gwynevere had a spark that they found difficult to hide due to their circumstances, so both of them had to exhibit self control around each other.

Courtly love in the medieval romance story of Lancelot (also known as The Knight of the Cart) is the driving force of this famous romance beloved for generations. This proves to be an interesting subject, seeing is a lot of other medieval stories do not focus on love and instead, show it in a rather negative light. This was obviously seen in another medieval story, Njal’s Saga, where not only were marriages arranged and sometimes unwanted by one or both parties, the relationships between men and women were rought with conflict, hatred, and sometimes even murder. The women were not beautiful, diminutive, helpless creatures; they were as strong as their male counterparts. Men also had relatively no interest in love, only of going on grand adventures

Chivalry is code of conduct used by knights, and heroes of the past. “Chivalry, the order of knighthood and, especially, the code of knightly behavior that was a feature of the High and later Middle Ages in western Europe”(Funk). Along with this idea of Chivalry, Feudalism was used in Europe as well. Feudalism is the system of both government and land ownership, where in exchange for a nobleman 's oath of loyalty, a king would grant them land. The ideas of Chivalry was expressed through out all sorts of different literary works, such as songs, poems, and more. The Two stories of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Morte D’Arthur express some of the ideas of Chivalry.

The saying goes, “Behind every great man is a great woman,” and, in some medieval romances, that great woman is scheming for her own benefit (and either for or contrary to that of the man’s). Feminine honor is tied to being a good wife, which means being sexually faithful to and obeying. In Bisclavret by Marie de France, Bisclavret’s wife betrays him both by taking away his humanity and by taking a lover, and for that, she is disfigured as her punishment. The inverse occurs in The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle: Ragnelle, disfigured by her stepmother, manipulates both Arthur and Gawain to secure her marriage with Gawain, and she is rewarded with beauty. These women are ultimately judged not by their manipulative actions but how

Throughout his Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri encounters with two women, which are antithetical to one another in terms of their roles in the context of love. These two women, Francesca di Rimini and Beatrice have similar emotional experiences with their lovers, both having relationships outside marriage; yet they have opposite interpretations of what they experience and where their fates led them. The reader meets Francesca in Inferno, while meets Beatrice in Paradiso. In other words, one of them is being punished, whereas the other women is placed at a divine level. Thus, the female characters within the poem represents two distinct roles of women: either as a pure and holy being, or as a sinful entity. Dante emphasizes the differing roles

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. Lancelot breaks the window’s iron bars to see Guinevere that night despise Sir Kay’s presence. The power of love makes him act foolish but at the same time gain superhuman powers to break the window iron bars. He’s so blinded by Guinevere’s beauty that he doesn’t realize how badly the iron cuts are on his fingers “He takes hold of the bars, which he pulls and tugs until he bends them all and drags them from their sockets. But the iron was so sharp that he split the tip of his little finger to the nerve and cut the end joint of his second finger right through.”(Chretien, 247). Lancelot has all he ever desired and has no wish to leave her. Lancelot worships Guinevere as a religion, for as he left after their lovemaking “he bowed before the room, behaving just as though he were before an altar.” (Chretien, 248). Queen Guinevere succeeds through her power of her words and the power of her appearance, she

Sir Lancelot was great friends with King Arthur, until he decided to fall through with breaking the code. After Guinevere had teased Lancelot by touching his arm and sending chills through his body, the met up together. The author says, “Their bodies locked together as though a trap had sprung. Their mouths met and devoured the other” (Steinbeck pg. 28). King Arthur trusted Sir Lancelot, little did he know what King Arthur’s wife, Guinevere, and Sir Lancelot had for each other. 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