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Written by order of Lady of Champagne, Chrétien de Troyes Lancelot Knight of the Cart is a story of a knight named Lancelot’s undying love for King Arthur’s wife, Queen Guinevere. In his introduction to the romantic medieval text, Chretien is sure to explain that the ideas within the text are mostly those of his Lady Champagne. Although there had been some speculation of a forbidden love between Lady Champagne and her scribe, there were never any charges against the two that lead to their dishonor. Other noble figures and members of Medieval English society however weren’t as fortunate and had to endure accusations and public humiliation. There was no separation between church and state in medieval England. Adultery was not only a sin against the church it was also an illegal crime that could not only grant a spouse an issue of divorce but the offender and their sexual partner would be subjected to criminal prosecution and public humiliation. The story of Guinevere and Lancelot reveal much about the society in which Chretien was writing within. Queen Guinevere’s status as a sovereign and wife of the king, would …show more content…
This coincides with Lancelot jumping into the cart of the dwarf to chase after his lady Guinevere and her captor. Denying reason over love, Lancelot humiliates himself and has his honor questioned by anyone and everyone who knows someone who knows someone who saw him in the cart. Although readers may view Lancelot’s various impulsive actions as romantic they must not fail to consider them to be both adulterous and criminal. As his cart ride ends the narrator alludes to these implications when stating that the “cart was for all criminals alike, for all traitors and murders…for all those who had stolen another’s possessions” (117). Lancelot regardless of his aim to retrieve Guinevere, a stolen woman in medieval times, would be regarded and charged just the same as Méléagant, her
In the beginning of Le Morte d’Arthur, background information is given. The background information explains that Sir Lancelot (King Arthur's favorite knight), has fallen in Queen Gwynevere. (King Arthur's wife) Once Sir Lancelot confessed his love to Gwynevere, she revealed that she was also in love with him and the two began a passionate love affair that lasted two years without King Arthur knowing. Sir Lancelot definitely has broken the code of chivalry because his duty was to protect the King and Queen as their knight however, he has disrespected him by having an affair with Gwynevere. It was Sir Lancelot’s affair that led to the following, events that then led to King Arthur’s death. A knight’s duty is to honor the King, not to disrespect him and have an affair with his wife without him knowing. Additionally, Sir Lancelot wasn't sentenced to death by the King but the Queen was sentenced to be burned at the stake. This goes to also show the corruption of Britain's Society. If another pilgrim within a lower class would have done what Sir Lancelot did, he would have been sentenced to death. Both the Queen and Lancelot contributed to their affair which brings up the question of, why should the Queen be burned at the stake and not
T.H. White's novel The Once and Future King presents a code of chivalry that outlines the expected knightly behavior of the time. This particular code stresses loyalty to one's liege, love and respect toward women, and absolute devotion to justice. At the height of Arthur's kingdom, this code was widely accepted by all. However, as Arthur's kingdom begins to decline, the code of chivalry begins to hold less importance among the people. The fall of Arthur's kingdom is directly related to the absence of the code of chivalry in the behavior of the Knights of the Round Table. Sir Lancelot betrays Arthur when he has an adulteress affair with Guenever. Sir Lancelot also disrespects women when he leaves Elaine to be with Guenever in Camelot. King Arthur himself is disloyal to justice when he allows Guenever to be rescued by Lancelot.
Numerous sources, such as Layamon's "Arthur's Dream", Marie de France's "Lanval" and Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur, portray Guinevere as a unfaithful wife and the primary cause of the fall of King Arthur and The Round Table. In all of the three works, Guinevere is seen approaching various men such as Lanval and Sir Lancelot, knights of her husband. And, yet, she remains virtuous and appealing in the eyes of King Arthur, who loves her dearly. Such blindness or possibly Arthur's unconditional love of Guinevere and Lancelot, Arthur's best knight, lead to the fall of Arthur's Britain and of the Round Table.
When all the courtly love elements that flow through The Knight of the Cart are composed, in addition to a tale of love affair between Queen Guinevere and Lancelot of the Lake, a document revealing the enchanting history of the Twelfth Century Renaissance is created. Troyes, our powerful storyteller, was able to do this by taking us on a journey with Lancelot, not only though his exciting battles to Guinevere but, through his passionate and enamored thoughts and behaviors that yearns for his beloved.
Medieval and Renaissance literature develops the concepts of love and marriage and records the evolution of the relation between them. In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Christian love clashes with courtly love, as men and women grapple with such issues as which partner should rule in marriage, the proper, acceptable role of sex in marriage, and the importance of love as a basis for a successful marriage. Works by earlier writers portray the medieval literary notion of courtly love, the sexual attraction between a chivalric knight and his lady, often the knight's lord's wife. The woman, who generally held mastery in these relationships based on physical desire and consummation, dictated the terms of the knight's duties and obligations, much like a feudal lord over a vassal. This microcosm of romance between man and woman was anchored by the macrocosm of the bonds among men and their fealty to their lord. The dominance of women and fealty to the leader in courtly love contrasts with the dominance ...
In the Medieval Period, knights dedicated their lives to following the code of chivalry. In Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, a number of characters performed chivalrous acts to achieve the status of an ideal knight. Their characteristics of respect for women and courtesy for all, helpfulness to the weak, honor, and skill in battle made the characters King Arthur, King Pellinore, and Sir Gryfflette examples of a what knights strove to be like in Medieval society. Because of the examples ofchivalry, Le Morte d’Arthur showed what a knight desired to be, so he could improve theworld in which he lived.
Lancelot is portrayed mostly as a love-struck man and not a very logical knight. From the first moment he is introduced, he is seen as someone sick from love. He will do anything to save his love, Gweneviere; even if that meant dishonor. When Lancelot rode on the cart, he was immediately labeled as someone bad. He pushed aside reason for love. “Because love ordered it, and wished it, he jumped in; since Love ruled his action, the disgrace did not matter.” (212) There seemed to have been nothing that could stand in the path of Lancelot.
The knight from The Wife of Bath Tale is the least moral of all the knights, because of his unbelievable actions towards women. “He saw a girl...alone as she was born, and, despite her resistance, he ravished her” (Chaucer, “The Wife of Bath Tale” 184). He clearly didn’t care about being chivalrous or having any morals when he molested this girl. Even though he is considered a knight, or squire, by King Arthur’s court “..King Arthur had in his court a lusty squire..” (Chaucer, “The Wife of Bath Tale” 184). The knight still had the nerves to undertake such a disgraceful and despicable action towards someone whom he was suppose to have courtesy for. His actions have not only dishonored King Arthur but every knight of the court as well. Although the knight is hopelessly adulterated in his own selfish desires, he does show a scant amount of chivalry when he says to the old lady“You have my word” (Chaucer, “The Wife of Bath Tale” 187). By saying this the knight shows that he possesses honor, a virtue of chivalry, the virtue of being able to keep one’s word. But after being saved by what the old lady taught the knight, he tries to bail on his word when she requested him...
Sir Lancelot, from the stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, has become by far the most popular and well-remembered knight. Through Malory's rendition of traditional materials, we have inherited a character that has become the image of the quintessential knight. How is it that "the outsider, the foreigner, the 'upstart' who wins Arthur's heart and Guinevere's body and soul" (Walters xiv) has taken the place that, prior to Malory, was reserved for Sir Gawain? Malory has made this character larger than life. Of the grandeur of Lancelot, Derek Brewer says, "In the portrayal of Lancelot we generally recognize a vein of extravagance. He is the most obsessive of lovers, as he is the most beloved of ladies, and the greatest of fighters" (8). To achieve this feat, Malory has molded Lancelot to fit the idea of the perfect knight and the perfect lover.
In Tennyson's poem, the woman known as The Lady of Shalott, has been placed in a tower and told if she ever looks directly onto Camelot, she will be cursed. "A curse is on her if she stay / To look down to Camelot"(lines 40-41). She relies upon a mirror to reflect to her what happens outside her tower. Light is very important to her, as without the light there can be no reflections. It is through the use of this mirror that she glimpses Lancelot riding by, in the sunlight, "His broad clear brow in sunlight glow'd;"(line 100). She falls in love with him, and watches him ride away causing her eye to wander from the mirror to the road and on to Camelot. The light, which beforehand had allowed her glimpses of the world, is her undoing and the curse is upon her. Up until the point when the Lady decided to look toward Camelot, the light had been a positive aspect in her life.
Many tales of courtly love are also tales of chivalry. Chivalry began to develop in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and since then, chivalric literature has existed as one of the main sites of human rights and social criticism (Wollock 266). In chivalric theory, an honorable knight gives respect to others in all matters of action and of speech (267). Chaucer describes the knight in The Canterbury Tales by saying, “He nevere yet no vileynye ne sayde / in al his lyf unto no maner wight. / He was verray, parfit gentil knyght” (Chaucer 70-72). While Chaucer’s knight is not a true example of courtly love, for Chaucer assigns the Squire that trait, he does possess the qualities of chivalry, which allow him to present a story of courtly love in his tale.
Lancelot, Bors, and Perceval all strive to become more like Galahad, and the author effectively uses these characters to teach his readers lessons about spiritual chivalry and personal salvation. The author provides each of these knights with a series of monks and hermits who counsel and guide him in the ways of spiritual chivalry, for only the most pure Christian knights have any hope of finding the Grail. The adventures of Perceval are very straightforward and easy to interpret, so he provides readers with a suitable introduction to spiritual chivalry and the importance of virginity, asceticism, and complete faith in God. The author faces Bors with more complicated challenges and visions than anything Perceval must handle; since the author tells Bors' adventures after Perceval's, readers should be more prepared to interpret their meaning and significance with regard to spiritual chivalry and personal salvation. The advice Lancelot receives from his series of monks and hermits shows readers the importance of confession and penance, but the author makes it clear that readers should not emulate Lancelot's life of sin ...
How would you describe Sir Lancelot? Most people would say he is the strongest, bravest, and kindest knight of the round table. Some might say he is the biggest Benedict Arnold of all time because of the adultery he committed with Queen Guinevere. However, his chivalry and code of honor make him the epitome of a true gentleman. These contrasting qualities set Sir Lancelot apart from all the other knights and characters in the “Morte D’Arthur.” Lancelot’s gallant, courageous, and conflicting personality make him a complex character in this dramatic tale of love and betrayal.
In the Middle Ages, when The Canterbury Tales was written, society became captivated by love and the thought of courtly and debonair love was the governing part of all relationships and commanded how love should be conducted. These principles changed literature completely and created a new genre dedicated to brave, valorous knights embarking on noble quests with the intention of some reward, whether that be their life, lover, or any other want. The Canterbury Tales, written in the 14th century by Geoffrey Chaucer, accurately portrays and depicts this type of genre. Containing a collection of stories within the main novel, only one of those stories, entitled “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, truly outlines the 14th century community beliefs on courtly love.
In the Song of Roland, ideal characteristics of a knight are identified mainly with having skill as a horseman and fighting on the battlefield. The idea of an armored knight is closely descended from the equites class of Rome. Knights were closely tied to the various fiefdoms and to the church. A knight was expected to have courage, honor, selflessness, respect, honesty, and many other characteristics of how a perfect knight was seen such as Roland, Oliver, and Thierry in the Song of Roland. Many knights were of course not perfect but in the Song of Roland Roland, Oliver, and Thierry are perfect knights because they have a strong devotion, and are respectful.