lancelot guinevere

8/10/2019 Lancelot Guinevere

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Samantha Souza

Abigail Broom

King Arthur and Camelot

Summer 2010

1 August 2010

Lancelot andGuinevere Throughout Literature

Throughout literature, Queen Guinevere, wie o King Arthur, is !nown to

have had an aair with the King"s right hand man, Sir #an$elot %sometimes

s&elled #aun$elot or &ro&er s$anning ee$t when s&o!en aloud in &oem verse'(

)ost &er$eive the alling in love o these two $hara$ters, and their aair, to be the

&rimar* tragi$ downall o King Arthur, as well as the im&etus or the

disillusionment o the ideals o Arthur"s +ound Table( )ordred ma!es Arthur

aware that #an$elot and Guinevere are engaging in an adulterous aair in an

attem&t to se$ure the &ossibilit* o King Arthur"s inevitable downall(

n Sir Thomas )alor*"s Le Morte dArthur, the author manages to give the

aair between Guinevere and Sir #an$elot a sort o omni&resen$e, while never

trul* ma!ing it the ma-or o$al &oint o the narrative( The stor* is Arthur"s ater all(

The aair is ha&&ening to him, and how to handle the ates o his best riend and

one true love is his de$ision alone( n a$t, the aair seems almost breezed

through until about the last .uarter o the tale, when the aair begins to ta!e a toll

on more than -ust Guinivere and #an$elot( The aair ae$ts the $ourse o the

lovers, Arthur, )ordred, and others( n Le Morte dArthur, #an$elot alls in and out


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o Guinevere"s avor throughout the stor*, while the two somehow maintain a

relationshi& that e/em&liies the ideals o $ourtl* love o the time( )alor* ma!es

#an$elot a !night, irst and oremost, and Guinevere"s se$ret love se$ond(

The $ourtl* love shared between Guinevere and #an$elot seems less

about &assion and true eelings o immortal love, and more about e/em&li*ing

$hivalr*, earning avors or the Queen, and being a &ere$t e/am&le o a Knight o

the +ound Table b* doing brave deeds in the name o Guinevere( The sensualit*

o their shared love seems almost none/istent, and the $onsummation o their

relationshi& is glossed over with barel* a mention( t is as i )alor* is aware that

going into too mu$h detail about the intimate nature o Guinevere and #an$elot"s

relationshi& would not be wise, as )alor* was a !night himsel( e naturall*

wants to &ortra* #an$elot, a ellow !night, as a true gentleman, and not a sordid

!night ater onl* one thing rom the Queen( There is the air that the entire

relationshi& is all or show, but that $annot be true, as #an$elot and Guinevere

seem to be made o at least a little more moral iber than that, as to go behind

the ba$! o their husband and best riend %res&e$tivel*' -ust or $ourtl* love"s

sa!e( hen Arthur de$ides that Guinevere"s ate should be to burn at the sta!e,

#an$elot &roves his $ourtl* love b* res$uing her, right in the ni$! o time, urther

illustrating the nature o the relationshi& between the two(

n Alred, #ord Tenn*son"s Idylls of the King, the aair between Guinevere

and #an$elot is more idealized, and seen through rose$olored glasses, as

o&&osed to the more ste&b*ste& $ourtl* love roman$e de&i$ted b* )allor*(


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A$$ording to Tenn*son, Guinevere re$ognizes at the end o the tale, u&on

realizing her ate, that she should"ve loved King Arthur, sim&l* and trul*, -ust as

he was, as he was a selless man, &ure o heart and intention( She a&&re$iates

him ar too late( Be$ause she ma!es this dis$over* and selrealization, it is $lear

that Guinevere has a$ted senselessl*, and without thought( er eminine desires,

wea!ness, and selishness led her to ma!e rash de$isions, that u&on urther

$onsideration, might not have been made( she had thought with her head and

not with her heart or loins, the +ound Table might not have $olla&sed the wa* it

did, and the ate o Arthur, #an$elot, and Guinevere hersel would"ve been

avoided( here )alor* &ortra*s Guinevere as a lad* o real worth until her aair

$omes to the light, Tenn*son does not give Guinevere an* s*m&ath*, nor does he

&ortra* her throughout the stor* as being &arti$ularl* worth* o avor, save or

ma*be her beaut*, or onl* when being $om&ared to the wi$!ed 3ivien(

Guinevere has $ommitted a terribl* oensive sin in Tenn*son"s e*es, and

thereore must re&ent b* devoted the remainder o her lie to the $hur$h(

Tenn*son"s views about woman are $lear through the des$ri&tion and ate o

Guinevere4 hen woman are overl* se/ual, and disres&e$t their men, e/tremel*

&unishment is ne$essar*( is -udgment o women is blatant throughout the te/t,

and it is onl* ater *ears o $haste servi$e to God that Guinevere $an be seen as

a woman o worth, in the e*es o Tenn*son(

n T( ( hite"s The Once and Future King, #an$elot is not the &ere$t

e/am&le o a !night, as in )alor*, or the romanti$ lover o Tenn*son( n a$t, his is


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.uite the o&&osite( #an$elot is &ortra*ed as a man ra$!ed with laws, and his

aggressive lo*alt* to Arthur is illustrated as a means to ight awa* his inner

demons( e desires to be the ultimate !night in an attem&t to battle his own sel

hatred( This aw!ward eeling o selloathing is onl* ueled even more b* his

une/&e$ted eelings or the !ing"s wie, Guinevere(

Guinevere, a$$ording to hite, trul* loves, admires, and res&e$ts Arthur,

while also a$!nowledging that #an$elot is the true love o her lie( She is

&ortra*ed as an inde&endent, strong, amiable, and beautiul lad*( hile she

!nows that her love o #an$elot is wrong, and disres&e$tul o Arthur, she $annot

ignore her eelings or her husband"s right hand man( 5nli!e )alor* or Tenn*son,

the somewhat steam* aair between the lovers does not seem to ae$t Arthur

nearl* as mu$h as it ae$ts the lovers themselves( e $hooses, mostl*, to ignore

the aair, and it onl* be$omes and issue when )ordred uses it as leverage

against the !ing in an attem&t to overthrow him( Guinevere remains a nun at the

end o the novel, as in Tenn*son( #an$elot has a onenight stand with 6laine,

whi$h leads him to turn to religion or orgiveness ater he is tested and ailed(

5ltimatel*, religion is the &ath to absolution or both &arties o this inamous

$ou&le(

+egardless o how the tale is told, ultimatel*, the aair between Queen

Quinevere and Sir #an$elot, the greatest !night o all, leads to the downall o

both King Arthur, the +ound Table, and the glor* o Camelot itsel(

lancelot guinevere

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