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Lancelot character study
Lancelot character study
Character analysis lancelot from first knight
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Once And Future King: Analytical Paper
Sir Lancelot's intense desire to perform heroic deeds was brought on by his lack of confidence and insecurity. His childhood was spent in seclusion, training for a job desired only to escape the hellish life that his hideous face would otherwise hold in store for him. Lancelot's adulthood was spent trying to overcompensate for this ugliness by performing Herculean feats and good deeds.
And the twilight years of his life were spent in remorse for the bad things he had done. Although held up to almost godlike stature in T.H. White's novel The
Once And Future King, Lancelot was truly the most human character of them all.
Lancelot's childhood was spent sequestered, training to be a knight in order to escape from his ugliness and give him something to be proud of.
Lancelot wanted to be a knight because he felt that he was a depraved, lubricious soul. His hideously twisted visage was a sure sign to him that deep in his inner self he was an evil person. Night and day he brooded over his ugliness, his malfeasance. “The boy thought that there was something wrong with him. All through his life - even when he was a great man with the world at his feet - he was to feel this gap: something at the bottom of his heart of which he was aware, and ashamed, but which he did not understand.”(p.315) As a result of this fear of himself, Lancelot trained to become a knight. The knighthood, a bastion of chivalry and nobleness, would be the only way to counter his immoral soul. Secondly, Lancelot lived a baneful existence as a boy. He was kept away from all the other children and spent his every waking hour with a fiery old man in a single room, learning to fight, joust, and fence. This may seem extreme to some, but for Lancelot, it was all he had. “Three years may seem a long time for a boy to spend in one room,...unless you realize from the start that...this rather sullen and unsatisfactory child, with the ugly face, did not disclose to anybody that he was living on dreams and prayers.”(p.320) While this single- minded seclusion would make him a great knight, it also kept him alone. He had no childhood friends, nobody to relate to, nobody to tell him that he was a good person. Consequently, his misgivings about himself took a firm root. Finally,
Lancelot was filled with terrible, hateful thoughts toward himself and his face.
The only job he could succeed in would be the knighthood, a profession in which
While he was separated from society, the threat of
knight, yet he still allows him to become one because he knows how important it is to
his psyche had to deal with. He was very up-set (as any other person would be)
I did this passage because I can only imagine what it was like to see himself after two years, and how much he had changed since then, he really must have looked like a different person. I am sure that he must have been shocked and I am not surprised that that memory has stayed with him for so long.
Furthermore, a ideal knight has a quality of courage. When Gawain went to the green chapel
...him. He cared deep for people but never saw goodbye as a thing to be mourned over and lived day by day not really doing much thinking when it came to planning, this would eventually lead to his downfall.
of his father and his father before him. He came to a certain point in his life where one
because of his role in other peoples lives as his contributions and importance often goes unnoticed but his
He worked hard while he was at school, in the Wisconsin company and even in the valley. His hard work earned him respect as he worked hard along the other people to earn his keep. He knew his self-worth and never doubted his ability. He was at peace with himself and his emotions, he was not conceited or arrogant (640) his self-esteem seemed boundless and justified. He was confident in his ability and had his happiness governing his morality and conduct. He never believed that he had to be his brother’s keeper; “. . . ever since I remember, I had felt that I would kill the man who’d claim that I exist for the sake of his need. . .” (680) He believed instead in pursuing his own happiness. Happiness represented his morality and ultimately, everything he did was for his happiness. He expressed this to Francisco d’Anconia his friend in no uncertain term when he informed him of his decision to return to New York – “If I go back it won’t be for our work. It will be to win the only thing I want from the world for myself …” (732). Although he was a reasonable man, he was not immune to emotions - he loved Dagny passionately, and he had a profound respect for his friends: Francisco d’Anconia and Ragnar Danneskjöld. He revered his mentor, Hugh Akston who was like a father to him. He never hid his love for Dagny or his
... be forever broken and forgotten. Meaning, the events made his mind completely disconnected from his past life in every way possible.
...strong appearance as a great knight, but he does not show mercy and courteousness to ladies. Even though he has many virtues to be a great knight, his weakness prevents him from being worshipped and respected as a great knight from other people.
One of Geoffrey's less believable main characters is the Knight, for reasons of chivalry. The knight displays many traits which make him seem almost too good to be true, and a true gentleman that rarely exists in reality. The narrator sums up the knights character by stating that "Though he were worthy, he was wys,/And of his port as meeke as is a mayde." (pg. 5, The Canterbury Tales) The knight holds four main admirable traits, making him the most liked traveler in "The Canterbury Tales," and also amplying the doubt of his realism. The reader is prepared to learn of each of his noble accomplishments and importance when the narrator remarks that" A knight ther was, and that a worthy man,/That fro the tyme that he first bigan/To ryden out, he loved chivalrye,/Trouthe and honour, fredom and curteisye." (pg. 4, The Canterbury Tales) From the characters impressive introduction, it is clear that this man is the most valued and honorable traveler among the group. This perfect gentleman holds a love of ideals that are often not displayed by people. First and foremost, he believes in the ideals of chivalry, and always stays true to its principles. He also feels that one should be honest, truthful and faithful, which many people are not all of these ideals. The knight thinks one should only do what is right, and what will gain him honor and reputation. This character also believes in freedom and generosity towards all, and displays this ideal repeatedly throughout the novel. And lastly, the knight also strongly feels that any proper person should display courtesy and elegance at all times. Another aspect of this character's life which makes him seem too prestigious to be truthful is his impressive military career. He fought in the holy war, known as the Crusades and was involved in 15 "mortal battles." In the prologue, the narrator informs the reader that "Ful worthy was he in his lordes werre,/And therto hadde he riden, no man ferre,/As wel in Cristendom as hethenesse,/And ever honoured for his worthinesse.
his parents to show them he had hurt him self. At times they even felt
him to a tragic end of his own life, and also caused the deaths of
A chivalrous knight was a very different sort of man from the proud, unruly, land-grabbing, brutal warriors who seemed to have been only too common in the Middle Ages. Warriors could or could not turn into chivalrous knights. Chivalry was a game of make-believe, a fashionable game that the ruling classes played when they were not busy quarrelling and scheming for more land, following their lords to war, or trying to squeeze more out of the peasants and merchants who lived on their land. These people were either "bold bad barons" or they were "very perfect gentle knights." They were probably a mixture of both. In this essay it will prove that chivalry did exist and played a part in a knight's training.