Love and Lust… one is favorable and one unwanted. Imagine both of these actions being positive in their own ways. Le Morte D Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory is clearly one of those books packed with love and lust. When reading medieval literature, these topics will surely be major factors that that bring drama and character into the piece. Sir Thomas Mallory shows love and lust through three major character couples: Arthur and Guinevere, Lancelot and Guinevere, and Merlin and the Lady of the Lake.
Arthur was King of Camelot, but he had no queen. He loved Guinevere, daughter of the King of Lodegreance, but she was in love with Lancelot, Arthur’s finest knight. He was told this by Merlin, Arthur’s advisor. “For he warned him that Lancelot should
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love her, and she him again…” (50). Arthur heard this from Merlin, but chose to marry Guinevere anyway because his love for her was to strong. “This fair lady is passingly welcome to me, for I have loved her long” (51). Merlin is Arthur’s leading advisor, so it was rare when he does not listen to him. When Arthur went against Merlin to marry Guinevere it was certain he was in love her. Guinevere does love the king, but her love for him was not near as strong as his love for her. She has a different kind of love towards Arthur. Guinevere respected, and was proud of the man he was, and loved the way he ruled Camelot. The only problem was she had an overwhelming romantic love for Lancelot. Guinevere married Arthur knowing she was in love with the man he was, and does not love him romantically, which purposed a major problem throughout the entirety of the book. Lancelot and Guinevere embark on a rocky, viscous, long and powerful affair throughout all of Le Morte D Arthur.
Lancelot is Arthur’s first and highest knight at the round table. They were best friends. Arthur trusted Lancelot and valued his opinion. So, it was a shocker to everyone when Lancelot decided to betray the king, his best friend, and enter an affair that incidentally was the cause of the fall of Camelot. Guinevere favored Lancelot over all the other knights, and he favored her above all other women. “… And so he loved her above all other ladies of his life, and for her he did many deeds of arms, and saved her from the fire…” (95). Lancelot saving Guinevere from a fire was most likely the first spark that fired up their relationship, and made them favor each other even more than before. Morgan Le Fay, a deceptive queen, came to Lancelot with 3 queens, and asked him to choose one of them, as you could probably imagine Lancelot denied them. “That either I must die or to choose one of you” (98). Lancelot was approached by 4 queens, but because he was so faithful and in love with Guinevere he denied all of them. During the book it was not hard to notice their love for each other mostly because Lancelot even spoke about her in his
sleep. Then Sir Lancelot had a condition that he used a custom to chatter in his sleep and to sleep often of his lady Guinevere…And in his sleep he talked and chattered of the love he had been betwixt Queen Guinevere and him. He talked so loud the Queen heard him there as she lay in her chamber. (287-288) Lancelot loved Guinevere so much he talked about her, and the love they shared in his sleep. Not only did he talk about her, he was so loud Guinevere heard him from her chamber! On one of Lancelot’s many adventures he ran into a hermit, and told him all about his special person. “And then he told the man all his life, and that he had loved a queen unmeasurably and out of measure long. And all my good deeds of arms….for the most part was for the queen, and for her sake I would do battle were it right or wrong ” (332). It was clear that Lancelot without any doubt was head over heels for Guinevere, but he was almost too in love with her. Lancelot was doing anything he needed to for Guinevere. Whether it was right or wrong or good or bad he did it because he loved her. He told the hermit he sometimes even put her above God, and that he needed council to get back on the right path. Lancelot realized his love for her was beginning to cause a problem. The major one being the thought of betraying the king was beginning to weigh on him. Many times throughout the book Lancelot decided to end the affair, and began to focus on God, and finding the Holy Grail. In the end Lancelot always found himself back into the hands of Guinevere. Who would have thought that the wise Merlin would fall for a lady like the Lady of the Lake? Merlin fell completely in love with her. “And always he lay about her maidenhood, and she was growing weary of him” (59). Merlin was always begging for her so much that she was beginning to be tired with him following her everywhere. She was too afraid of what he was capable of magically that she would not run away from him. So she trapped him under a rock and ran away from him. This is one of the few stories where the woman stood her ground against the man. Now to move on to the lust for Lancelot from Elain. King Pellas had a beautiful daughter he wanted Lancelot to sleep with her to bear a son that would become an even better knight than Lancelot. Through magic Lancelot was tricked into sleeping with Elain. Elain was thrilled because she know was carrying the baby that would become the greatest knight. After the spell broke Lancelot was furious he wanted to kill Elain but did not because she was pregnant. Lancelot was so ashamed because he betrayed Guinevere through the lust he had for Elain. Even though this was a bump in Guinevere and Lancelot’s relationship their love always made it out and stronger than before. In conclusion love and lust was the major base theme in Le Morte D Arthur. From love and lust came betrayal and chivalry. Hopefully through the examples given in this paper it was evident that medieval literature is not medieval literature without a little love and lust. The three major relationships full of love and lust were Lancelot and Guinevere, Merlin and the Lady of the Lake, and Elain and Lancelot. In the end love was the one thing that brought down the once powerful Camelot.
In the Arthurian romance genre, Guinevere plays various roles; the purpose of her role depends on the story that she is in. In three separate stories, written by different poets, specifically Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Morte Darthur, and The Wife of Bath’s Tale, Guinevere is used to achieve different goals. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Guinevere is the catalyst of all of the stories events. The burning desire of Morgan le Fay to destroy Guinevere through dismantling the Round Table is what spurs the arrival of the Green Knight in Arthur’s court and the subsequent quest that Gawain goes on that tests his character and allows him to learn more about himself. The Guinevere in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the reason that Arthur’s
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
The Arthurian cycle shows a sporadic awareness of the impossibility of mere humans fulfilling all the ideals that Arthur and his court represent. The story of Lancelot and Guenevere, Merlin's imprisonment by Nimu‘, and numerous other instances testify to the recognition of this tension between the real and the unrealistic.
The love triangle of Arthur, Lancelot, and Guenever is a constant theme throughout every account of the Arthurian legend. Geoffrey Ashe's The Arthurian Handbook states that "We may say that these knights are expected to serve their King..."(81). The revelation of the affair finally comes when Sir Agravaine shouts, "'Traitor Knight! Sir Lancelot, now art thou taken'"(White 569). Lancelot was summoned to Queen Guenever's bedroom, and Sir Agravaine is finally exposing the affair and gaining revenge on Lancelot for unhorsing him many times in the past. The two people that Arthur trusts most are Guenever and Lancelot. Arthur is well aware of the affair between the two, but chooses to pretend that nothing is going on. Due to this naivety, Arthur earns the disrespect (and even hatred) of Agravaine and Mordred, who eventual...
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.
In The Lais of Marie de France, the theme of love is conceivably of the utmost importance. Particularly in the story of Guigemar, the love between a knight and a queen brings them seemingly true happiness. The lovers commit to each other an endless devotion and timeless affection. They are tested by distance and are in turn utterly depressed set apart from their better halves. Prior to their coupling the knight established a belief to never have interest in romantic love while the queen was set in a marriage that left her trapped and unhappy. Guigemar is cursed to have a wound only cured by a woman’s love; he is then sent by an apparent fate to the queen of a city across the shores. The attraction between them sparks quickly and is purely based on desire, but desire within romantic love is the selfishness of it. True love rests on a foundation that is above mere desire for another person. In truth, the selfishness of desire is the
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 ...
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.
In a relationship, Love is a feeling that humans share with a special person. Some bonds could be mutual, while others are dissociated. During the Medieval period, love affairs were dominated by one gender, men, and the women had little or no control over decisions. Before a gentleman married a lady, the gentleman first boasted about her beauty, championed the cause of the lady, and did whatever the lady requested. The era was influenced by knights, and dictated by honor and chivalry that each knight had to display to their king and queen. As a gentleman, a knight had to be just at all times, especially toward ladies. At this time, there was a king named Arthur. King Arthur had a flourishing kingdom that abruptly ended. Later on, many authors recounted the story of the reign of King Arthur. Sir Thomas Malory published Le Morte d’Arthur, and Geoffrey Chaucer published The Wife of Bath’s Tale. Although both of these books recount the reign of King Arthur, the stories are very diverse and unique in their own way. Both stories demonstrate for a relationship to be successful, both partners must be submissive, must be brave, and must be willing to learn from mistakes.
Malory's Le Morte D’Arthur isn't known to be classic just because of Arthur-but rather the themes of family, love, revenge, identity, loyalty and betrayal. As King, Arthur is put in many situations that test the people he surrounds himself with. Therefore, betrayal has become a reoccurring theme. Throughout the novel, people are seen betraying each other. Betrayal has become familiar in a way to the members of the round table, ultimately leading to it's demise. The acts of betrayal occur in various forms, whether it be through adultery or just going behind the other person's back. Regardless of how it happens it brings about serious disorder for all involved.
“The Knight’s Tale”, for example, uses the concept of a knight not only to parody the concept of the hero, but also to question the well-established courtly love convention. This last concept refers to a set of ideas about love that was enormously influential on the literature and culture of the medieval times for it gave men the chance to feel freely. Also, it gave women the opportunity to be an important element in the story – not only decorative. However, when scrutinizing the tale, the readers can realise that all the aspects of a knight’s love are exaggerated and conveyed throu...
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.
The tales of King Arthur and many of their numerous characters are well known in literature. The Arthurian world is one of the great myths of modern times. Those great pieces of literature have many common themes, one of them being courtly love “L’amour Courtois”. This paper talks of courtly love as seen in King Arthur’s world especially examining “Yvain or the Knight with the Lion” and “Lancelot: or the Knight of the Cart”. Furthermore, one of the goals is to show how that courtly love could be seen in today in our world.
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.