The Court of King Arthur

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The Court of King Arthur in the Tales of Lanval and Sir Gawain the Green Knight

King Arthur shows to be a very provident king who treats his people with a large amount

of his riches and fortune. Additionally, the people of his court show to be honest, full of chivalry,

and trustworthy. There would seem to be a sort of contract between the king and his subjects: he

provides for them, and they, as his most loyal subjects, keep to his standards of honor and

civility. The court of King Arthur as described in the tale of Lanval by Marie de France shows to

be actually quite similar to the court described in the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Although the characters themselves are in different situations and are treated differently by the

king, the principles of the court remain the same.

As any great king would do, King Arthur shares and rewards his gold, riches, property,

and material wealth to the members of his court. However, in the tale of Lanval, Arthur tends to

ignore Lanval and give him nothing. The people of his court tend not to like Lanval because they

envy his beauty and "feign[…] the appearance of love" for him (Marie 24). Although the king

tends to pay very little attention to Lanval, he continues to be presented as a king of great fortune

and who shares –– for the most part –– with the people of his court, rewarding all of the other

knights and courtiers in his court, but he neglects to accept the fact that Lanval is even in his

presence: "[Arthur] gave out many gifts: / to counts and barons, / ………. / to all but one who

had served him. / That was Lanval; Arthur forgot him, / and none of his men favored him

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either." (Marie 13-20). Be this as it may, Arthur is still...

... middle of paper ...

...ity between the courts of Arthur as presented in

the stories of Lanval and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It is important to note the amount of

love and charity that King Arthur shows for his subjects. And likewise, it is important to note the

amount of respect that have for the codes of chivalry and honor, which is often rewarded in the

long run with forgiveness for their transgressions or breeches of contractual obligations.

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Works Cited

Marie de France. Lanval. Trans. Robert Hanning and Joan Ferrante. The Longman Anthology of

British Literature. Eds. David Damrosch and Kevin J. H. Dettmar. 4th ed. New York:

Longman, 2010: 1A: 203-219.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Trans. Brian Stone. The Longman Anthology of British

Literature. Eds. David Damrosch and Kevin J. H. Dettmar. 4th ed. New York: Longman,

2010: 1A: 222-277.

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