A Knight’s Code of Chivalry or Love
An archetypal character has many traits, especially their growth as an individual and how their collective unconscious can change, possibly even creating a new character in a positive or negative way. Their decisions and behaviour in their personality can alter their relationship with others and how others see them. In the story King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, by Roger Lancelyn Green, Sir Launcelot portrays a variety of archetypes according to Jung’s theory including a ‘hero’ as he develops on his journey and baring the agonizing ‘wound’ from his betrayal to King Arthur for loving Guinevere, but he knows what he did is wrong. His persona is that he is a very humble knight and has dedication to his commitments, even “refusing [to love the four queens]” and “‘would rather die than shame [his] honour and [his] vows of knighthood’” (125). Sir Launcelot reflects on the ‘self’ archetype which shows his acts of individualism as his aspects of his personality never change, especially his honour and worship to King Arthur being his priority. He shows true potential in battle as a skillful adversary and is always there to help others in need. Although being a traitor because of his love for Guinevere, many knights recognize Sir Launcelot as the greatest knight in Logres for his chivalrous actions towards other knights while trying to stay true to King Arthur and himself.
Sir Launcelot’s behaviour strongly follows the code of chivalry, serving the hero King Arthur and keeping his honour while trying to keep the peace between the evil figure with a good heart, himself and the hero. While thinking he is no longer worthy, King Arthur believes he is “the best knight in the world” (273). Sir ...
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...le trying to abolish his sin with Guinevere before it consumes his heart completely. Love blinds him from being a true knight of the Round Table and is not properly following the Order of Knighthood as he is facing the ‘maze’ archetype throughout his journey especially during the Quest of the Holy Grail. The obstacles that he has to face are all from his mind as he continues to try to heal his spirit and heart from his sin throughout the completion of his journey. His whole quest is all both a physical and emotional journey as he follows his code of chivalry while he searches for forgiveness for betraying King Arthur which he becomes a monk in the end. While a knight can sin and ignore the problem, only a true knight such as Sir Launcelot repents for the shameful mistake that affects not only himself individually, but his relationship with other knights and damsels.
In this tale Lyonet was sent to find a noble knight to rescue her sister from the Red Knight of the Red Launds.When she came to King Arthur’s court to ask of such a knight to aid her, a man to the name of Sir Beaumains asked to be the one to rescue the sister of Lyonet. At this point of the tale Sir Beaumains was considered to be not as noble as Lyonet had wanted. Beaumains wouldn’t leave her on her journey back to her sister. Lyonet kept referring to Beaumains as a kitchen knave from King Arthur’s court and would give him no respect as a knight. Throughout the journey Beaumains would not reveal his true identity and Lyonet kept wishing him gone. She would tell all of the knights that they came across in their journey what kind of man he was and taunt them to get them to fight. Every time Beaumains would win. Finally Beumains overcame the Red knight of the Red Launds and saved Lyonet’s sister, Dame Lyonesse. Once Lyonesse was freed she fell madly in love with Beaumains and wanted to be with him. Everytime Lyonesse would sneak into the room to “be with” Beaumains Lyonet would send a knight into the room and to do great harm to Beaumains so that they could not do the things they were trying to do. Lyonet never trusted Beaumains to be a truly noble knight until his name was revealed and his lineage was known.
Marie De France’s Lanval is a remarkable short narrative that engages the reader into a world filled with unrealistic elements, but enhances on the true meaning of romance, chivalry and nature during the years that King Arthur reigned. “Sir Gawain and The Green Knight” unfortunately does not have an author that can be recognized but this epic poem demonstrates the ghastly adventure of a knight who decides to defend the honor of young King Arthur against a supernatural being in this malicious game of cat and mouse. Both of these pieces of literature have enchanting characteristics that define them as a masterpiece of their era and that’s why they both are easily compared and contrasted. In addition, both Lanval and “Sir Gawain and The Green Knight” can be classified as similar through their themes, style and plots, although they are different through their language and diction. Even though both of these literatures can be viewed as similar as well as contrasting, in the end, each of these tales have illuminated the realm of fantasy throughout the court of King Arthur.
There is a form of pure love and authentic chivalry that permeates throughout the Arthurian legends. Elements of loyalty and valor accompany these concepts, and all are equally represented in Chretien de Troyes' The Knight of the Cart, or more commonly known as Lancelot, the original text that portrayed the adulterous affair between Lancelot, a knight in Arthur’s court, and Arthur’s queen, Guinevere. In a similar style to the aithed (Kibler 112)—or Celtic tale of abduction —Chretien crafts a time enduring legend in which in our knight of the cart, Lancelot embarks on a romantic and chivalric quest in search of the queen, for Meleagant has taken her as prisoner to his otherworldly realm of Gorre. Along this journey, Lancelot encounters a myriad of perhaps unbearable tests and tribulations, yet he never fails to rise above these trials and continue on in his pursuit for his great love. However, all the adventures Lancelot endures all stem from one fleeting moment comprised of great sin, the instance where Lancelot hesitates for two steps before climbing into the cart that permanently shames all who ride within it.
The evolution of human society consists mainly of ineffective ruling regimes and oppressed peasants. Medieval Europe falls into this same pervasive cycle. Social and political hierarchies intertwine which creates a grossly inefficient system. Hereditary lineage determines nobility. Commoners possess no hope of social mobility. Every aspect of life is virtually preordained. These circumstances revolve around the figure Lanval by Mari de France. Mari de France introduces Lanval as a courteous and distinguished knight of King Arthur’s court. Lanval possesses the most moral nature of all of King Arthur’s knights, yet even so, the other knights of King Arthur’s round table despise him. The many knights neglect acknowledgment of his nature as does
When Maurice Keen set out to write a book on the components and development of chivalry, he did not know it would be “the last word on a seductive subject,” as stated by one Washington Post reviewer. Instead, Keen was merely satisfying a curiosity that derived from a childhood fascination of stories filled with “knights in shining armour.” This juvenile captivation was then transformed into a serious scholarly interest by Keen’s teachers, the product of which is a work based upon literary, artifactual, and academic evidence. Keen’s Chivalry strives to prove that chivalry existed not as a fantastical distraction, as erroneously portrayed by romances, but instead as an integral and functional feature of medieval politics, religion, and society. The thirteen chapters use an exposition format to quietly champion Keen’s opinion of chivalry as being an element of an essentially secular code of “honour” derived from military practices.
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
It can be difficult to define the unifying themes of Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur ; it can seem a tangle of random adventures mired with magic and religion, love and fate. What is the purpose behind all the seemingly similar adventures of so many similar knights? And what is the place that the books of Sir Trystram hold? These books make up the longest section of the work, yet Trystram plays no role in the search for the Holy Grail or the downfall of Arthur. There are many parallels drawn between Trystram and Launcelot: they are both the greatest knights of their time, both the greatest lovers, both become mad for a short time, etc. What distinguishes Trystram from Launcelot; what is his distinctive purpose within the themes of the work? I am indebted to Jill Mann’s “The Narrative of Distance, The Distance of Narrative in Malory’s Morte Darthur ” for helping me work out my answers to these questions. Though I do not fully agree with her theory that Le Morte is primarily concerned with the creation and obliteration of distance, I do find her ideas of narrative distance in relation to identity important.
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.
Galahad is an attempt to meld Christian and chivalric ideals in the medieval and Victorian accounts of the Arthurian legend. He first appears in the French Vulgate Cycle, a collection of medieval romances, as the personification of both Christian and chivalric piety, deeply entrenched in Biblical symbolism. Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur upholds Galahad, the quintessential knight, as the embodiment of medieval virtue. Also, in the nineteenth century, as the legend regained popularity, Galahad emerges as the epitome of Victorian moral purity in the works of Alfred, Lord Tennyson and the Pre-Raphaelite painters. Best known as the knight who achieves the quest for the Holy Grail, Galahad remained the ideal knight in the Arthurian legend from his medieval Christian roots to the Victorian Age.
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 ...
Two conflicting disciplines are prevalent throughout Arthurian Legend; that of chivalry and that of courtly love. The ideal of each clash throughout the medieval tales, and it is impossible to interfuse the two models for society. Chivalry is a masculine code, an aggressive discipline, whereas courtly love is based upon women - their needs, wants, and desires. The consistent problem if Lancelot and Guinevere’s adulterous relationship in different tellings of the affair relates back to the differences presented in chivalric code and courtly love ideals.
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 the Arthurian Legend, Sir Lancelot is viewed as the powerful and skilled “White Knight”, on the other hand, he is also considered as the “Sinful Adulterer” for his disobeyment to the knights’ code of chivalry. Despite his innocence, these corrupt sins led to his unsuccessful quest for the Holy Grail. Instead, Galahad, the illegitimate son of Sir Lancelot, is destined to achieve the Holy Grail, his spiritual purity making him a greater warrior than even his prominent father.
Sir Percival, although spelled in a variety of ways, was one of King Arthur’s legendary Knights of the Round Table. In many accounts, his widowed mother raised Percival; typically the works did not give the names of any siblings or other relatives for this knight, in a secluded forest. Percival’s mother sheltered him extensively, keeping him from knowing of knighthood in particular, although some accounts include that he was illiterate and further, ill mannered. As a result of his sheltered upbringing, in the beginning of his life and career, Sir Percival is consistently portrayed as being uncouth or having a natural innocence or foolishness about society, knighthood, and chivalry. Often, this innocence translates to his quests where he demonstrates
As we all known, Lancelot, always considered as one of the greatest knights of the king Arthur, fulfills with all wonderful qualities of being a great knight. He does rescue the Queen Guinevere; nevertheless, he still stays in the quest to gain the love of his beloved. The pure love is the quest for Lancelot, which makes him lose in the balance between chivalrous reason and love, and suffers all the time. However, Lancelot still feels meaningful, and follows the path of love, as we can easily see paradox inside his mind, “Because Love ordered and wished it, he jumped in; since Love ruled his action, the disgrace did not matter.” (Chretien, P117)