Relationship Between Lancelot And Guinevere In The Once And Future King

The destruction caused by illicit relationships is evident by the tragedies and faced by the lovers within Arthur’s kingdom.

Lancelot and Guinevere’s affair leads to the destruction of friendship, illustrated by the tragedies faced between friends within Arthur’s kingdom. In The Once and Future King, the greatest knight in the world, Lancelot, has great affection for his King Arthur’s wife, Guinevere. King Arthur, whom is Lancelot’s lord, admires Lancelot’s relentless fighting style and claims Lancelot his friend and partner. Yet, after holding his feelings for Guinevere back, Lancelot decides to “indulge” himself by sending every captive he has captured to Guinevere instead of Arthur, in order to demonstrate his passion for the Queen: “Thinking

of her all the time and longing to be back with her, he had allowed himself this one indulgence. He had sent his captives to kneel at her feet It was a fatal course of action” (362). Lancelot yearns to be with Guinevere, so he decides to hint his love for the Queen by sending her all his captives. The knight from then on becomes Guinevere’s personal knight, asking to fight anyone who disputes with her, since Lancelot knows he will always win. By trying to grab the attention of Guinevere and make the Queen’s feelings mutual to his, Lancelot furthers himself from Arthur as a friend and partner. Lancelot’s affair causes him to put Guinevere before Arthur and the court, instead sending captives to the Queen and always ready to help the Queen. This forms a Celtic sovereignty within Arthur’s kingdom, which is defined as, in Mordred, King Arthur’s Second Son, “In Celtic tradition, sovereignty is often represented as a woman and the king's assumption of power as his marriage to his kingdom” (Varin 170). Guinevere takes the role of a woman in charge of the king’s power in Arthur’s kingdom, since the best knight of Arthur’s Round Table has, due to his affair with the Queen, distanced himself from Arthur as a companion and knight.
Next, Lancelot and Guinevere’s illicit relationship cause further destruction, resulting in loss of loyalty, within Arthur’s kingdom. Similar to the destruction of friendship, the loss of loyalty results in tragedies for lovers who failed to make smart decisions when betrayed. Lancelot’s affection and lust towards Guinevere causes him to act wild, going behind King Arthur’s back and unlawfully sleeping with the Queen: “…then, before she was quite certain of what had happened, Guenever was laughing or weeping, unfaithful to her husband, as she had always known she would be” (380). Guinevere is overcome with Lancelot’s passion for her that she decides to put her marriage with King Arthur behind her desire for Lancelot. Guinevere, now realizing her unfaithfulness to her husband, makes both her and Lancelot not loyal to their lord. Arthur’s loss of loyalty emerges from his best knight and Queen, illustrating how affairs uncertainly lead to tragedies, in which faithfulness and friendships are lost. In Dante’s “Inferno”, Dante comes across two grieving souls, and when they approach, he asks them how they died. The two are lovers, and while one, Galeotto, weeps, the other, Francesca, tells Dante, “One day we reading were for our delight / Of Launcelot, how Love did him enthral. / Alone we were and without any fear. / Full many a time our eyes together drew That reading, and drove the colour from our faces; / But one point only was it that o'ercame us. / When as we read of the much-longed-for smile / Being by such a noble lover kissed, / This one, who ne'er from me shall be divided, / Kissed me upon the mouth all palpitating. / Galeotto was the book and he who wrote it. / That day no farther did we read therein" (Dante 123-135). Francesca and Galeotto are encouraged by Lancelot’s love for Guinevere, so they commit their own affair. In turn, Francesca partner kills the two lovers. The depiction of Lancelot and Guinevere’s affair in Hell portrays how nothing good will come out of an affair.
Lastly, the illicit relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere causes more destruction in Arthur’s kingdom illustrated through the lack of responsibility.

Similar to the destruction of friendship and loyalty, the lack of responsibility leads to careless and dull actions performed towards others. Before sleeping with Guinevere, Lancelot slept with a princess named Elaine, with whom he had a child named Galahad. After sleeping with the love of his life, Guinevere, Lancelot feels unmotivated to take care of Galahad; Lancelot even hides from Elaine and Galahad when they come to visit him at King Arthur’s court, Camelot: “"Lancelot," she said, "I think you ought to go to your son. Elaine is grieving because you have not been to see him" (392). Lancelot acts careless about helping raise his Galahad, so he hides from his wife and son when they arrive. Guinevere is forced to go chase after Lancelot and order him to go to his son at once. However, Lancelot’s attitude that he does not love Elaine and does not want to participate in raising Galahad results in the tragedies of Elaine’s suicide and Galahad becoming a better knight that Lancelot: “Right so Sir Launcelot, his father, dressed his speak and brake it upon Sir Galahad, and Galahad smote him so again that he smote down horse and man. And then he drew his sword, and dressed him unto Sir Percivale, and smote him so on the helm…” (Malory 362). Lancelot, not recognizing Galahad who is dressed as a beggar, unjustifiably attempts to strike Galahad. Galahad, proving he is the better knight, hits Lancelot down with his bear hands while afterwards using his sword to strike down upon Sir Percivale, a friend of Lancelot. Galahad not only found the Holy Grail over all other knights of Arthur’s Round Table, but Galahad is able to defeat Lancelot and Sir Percivale in a battle. Lancelot’s affair leads to his sinful behavior, which in turns results in him being succeeded by his son, whom is a far greater knight than

Lancelot.