Guinevere Character Development

Development of Guinevere

Behind every good man is a strong woman but is that truly the case with Arthur and Guinevere. Over the course thus far, the constantly changing characters and aspects of the stories have been analyzed. Obvious main characters like Arthur are easy to notice change in but what is to be said about Guinevere. In The History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth, Guinevere is illustrated as a secondary character with a minimalistic supporting role whereas in The Knight of the Cart by Chretien de Troyes, Guinevere is shown to be a main character. Although the basic details known about Guinevere are maintained throughout the stories up till now, her role grows and reflects upon women in society as well.

Guinevere is first introduced in The History of the Kings of Britain. Arthur vanquishes his opponents and restores his country. Thereafter he celebrates his reign in marrying a woman of noble descent, Guinevere; this is the first mention of her name baring no more detail. Guinevere’s position is to serve

her king and people by producing heirs, strengthening his claim to the land as well as help build future empires. One of her duties as queen obligates her to make an appearance at Arthur’s crowning ceremony. She holds a small role in serving King Arthur in this political manner. The ceremony mainly focuses on Arthur but the people still respect both parties. People were unsure of which church to attend first making it appear as the crowds favor them both. Guinevere does not hold much significance in Geoffrey’s account for the tournament held as it would be expected for a queen to have a presence at such an event but she is never named but the various women that look over the walls. It would be safe to assume that the king and queen would watch contestants if they were offering prizes but only Arthur is mentioned in these instances.
Geoffrey does not give much description when Mordred and Guinevere betray Arthur. It is summarized in one sentence, “It was announced to him that his nephew Mordred, to whose guardianship he had entrusted Britain, was wearing its crown in tyranny and treachery, and that Queen Guinevere, having broken the oath of her prior nuptials, had been joined to him in unconscionable lust.” Guinevere seems to serve Mordred in a small supporting role as well. Her betrayal can be seen as a consequence of Mordred’s treachery. She does however feel guilt of some sort as she flees and becomes a nun vowing to live her life in chastity but again, Geoffrey does not explain further on the situation as this is the last time the reader will hear about Guinevere.
Decades later will Chrétien write several well-known romances. One of which will be for Countess Marie de Champagne. Chretien is given material by Marie de Champagne for The Knight of the Cart. A significant difference between the two texts is the role Guinevere play but this could be due to the authors being from different countries and pertain the stories to different audiences possibly reflecting the society’s overall separately of each other. Although it is a female patron for whom Chreétien is writing the story for, it still reflects some aspects of woman’s roles much like Geoffrey touches on, Chrétien just emphasizes more. His writing style is different from Geoffrey’s whereas he gives Guinevere an active role. Instead of her acting as a symbolic contributor, she is given more individuality and even dialogue. During this time, chivalry was arising and an expected code of knights. The story generalizes the concept of courtly love based off of chivalry. The reader follows a knight later named Lancelot adventuring and completing tasks out of courtly love for his loved one.
In The Knight of the Cart, Guinevere is her own character in which she holds an active role in influencing both the court and those around her.

When Kay leaves Arthur’s service, Arthur goes to Guinevere to have her convince Kay to stay. Kay listens to Guinevere when she begs him to stay but not Arthur. He says he would only stay if both her and the king grant him a request. The first scene the story and it demonstrates that Guinevere has some powers that Arthur does not as well as just the same when she is to grant his request too. Later in the story, Lancelot accepts Guinevere’s disapproval with him when he says she would not do so without reason showing that he has trust in her wisdom and authority. She has authority over knights as well including Lancelot when she regards him as a knight in her service. Guinevere has an active role in her authority as queen letting her participate in the court politics and voice her own

opinions.
Guinevere has a lot of feminine power with her control in her adultery in The Knight of the Cart. The story parallels that of Geoffrey’s but with Mordred switched out for Lancelot and much more detail of the love affair that is absent in Geoffrey’s. In terms of their affair, it is fair to assume that she dictates the relationship. She toys with Lancelot’s heart several times such as when she blows him off ‘”as a joke’” when they finally see each other causing him to leave. She holds leadership when the maids of Arthur’s court ask her to reign over the tournament. The impact of this decision results in more people coming than usual only because of Guinevere. Furthermore, in Chretien’s story, the women are in hopes of finding a potential husband at the tournament. The tournaments are merely a festival of various games and serve no purpose in finding a mate but Chretien proposes it otherwise.
Guinevere starts out as a simple flat character that has little characteristics but serves her land and people with the resources she can. When included in earlier texts she offers little to the story let alone dialogue. She is still portrayed as a female public figure throughout most texts where in latter texts she performs her duties and more. Guinevere grows into a main character that which has more authority than what women in previous texts would. In the short time between the texts they allow queen Guinevere to flourish necessary for the patron and type of society.