Essay about Courtly Love as an Ennobler in Romantic Literature

Sir Lancelot is the dominant figure in Le Morte D'Arthur who presents us with the theme of sin and redemption. Sir Agravaine and Sir Mordred expose the courtly romance or otherwise adulterous affair between Sir Lancelot and Queen Guenever. This sets in motion the conflicts and other events leading up to the death of Sir Lancelot and many other noteworthy characters. Sir Lancelot betrays both King Arthur and Queen Guenever. If he is truly a noble character as Sir Gawaine, Sir Gareth, and Sir Gaheris describe, would he have involved himself in such a treacherous act? Sir Agravaine says, “I marvel that we all be not ashamed both to see and to know how Sir Launcelot lieth daily and nightly by the queen, and all we know it so; and it is shamefully suffered of us all, that we all should suffer so noble a king as King Arthur is so to be shamed” (Location 12810). Sir Lancelot’s betrayal raises opposition between the knights and breaks up that which should remain united. His betrayal reaches beyond the king and queen. Thus, it is not a surprise that the consequences of his sin affect the lives of so many.

What Percivale failed to see was that this was a test, a test to see if all the things he wanted would seem unappealing after the sand experiences. He was about to give in to temptation but he then remembered the words of his king and went on his way. While Percivale had this experience, Lancelot had a totally different one where some could say that he lost all his sanity. The difference lay in that Lancelot had a horrible sin to his name while Percivale didn 't. Lancelot was told by Arthur that he could make it because even a seedling could bloom on a swamp. What this meant was that no matter how deep Lancelot was in his sin, God would find a way to forgive him. So Lancelot went ahead on his journey but he tried to commit suicide as he went on a boat and out to sea for seven days. On the seventh day, he got a break from the sea- just as God did- and landed at the shores of Carbonek where his son Galahad had been born. All the way to the entrance, lion statues kept appearing as his symbol was the lion. This was to represent that he was about to have some conflict with himself. As he crosses two lions at the entrance, they take away his sword as he subconciously is prepairing himself to enter in his realm of curing himself. As Lancelot entered the castle, he could see nothing as his soul was at the time empty at the bottom. He heard a voice calling him from above in the direction of where

The reader can ask, “What is the motive behind Sir Tarquin’s quest?” Before Sir Lancelot and Sir Tarquin duel, Malory leaves this question open for the reader to make their own conclusion. As this episode progresses, the reader finally receives a clue as Sir Lancelot and Sir Tarquin exchange dialogue for the first time. Sir Lancelot makes it known he is a member of the Round Table and has come to save his fellow knights in distress. Sir Tarquin responds, “And thou be of the Round Table, I defy thee and all thy fellowship” (Mallory 105). Throughout the years, Sir Tarquin has targeted many knights who are of the fellowship of the Round Table. He has a fueled hatred towards the King’s knights and he willfully rebels and challenges those who are members of the said company. With these words, Sir Tarquin clearly shows he is an enemy to the representatives of King Arthur’s court. His personal perception towards the knights of the Round Table is that of distaste and abhorrence and has a further purpose other than sport.

Page 4 Every night for six years Lancelot would go and practice with the knights Without his dad wnsent . he asked one of the knight in the palace. After the years passed lancelot got stronger and could fight. The king noticed and offered him a job.

Lancelot slew multiple knights, including his own comrades. His first kill in the story occurred when a group of knights, lead by the traitorous Sir Agravain in a plot against him, discovered

This is depicted by Lancelot “the knight of the carts,” underlying love of King Arthur’s Queen Guinevere. His love start as Queen Guinevere is

The stories of Lancelot (The Knight of the Cart) and Perceval (The Story of the Grail) within Chrétien de Troyes’ Arthurian Romances depict a world of Medieval Romance that is somewhat different from one that was depicted in earlier epics. These romances are more focused on the battle between love and honor rather than on war and valor, which were depicted in earlier epics of de Troyes’ time. The tale of Lancelot follows a star-struck knight who undergoes an inner conflict between both the lover and hero inside him. His intense commitment to rescuing the queen causes him to make rash decisions which inevitably restrain him from controlling his own fate. Perceval’s story exhibits a different purpose for love in a knight’s life. Unlike Lancelot, he accepts love only when he believes it can further advance him in becoming the perfect knight. The two heroes’ actions showcase an inner conflict between maintaining their honor as knights and the love for another. Through these two tales, Chrétien de Troyes shows that that idealistic love and conscious chivalry cannot necessarily successfully coexist, yet it is the unachievable idealistic view that these two ideals do coexist.

Obedience is another factor that constitutes courtly behavior in the story. Lancelot battles arduous combats and suffers severe wounds for the love of Guinevere. However, once throughout his voyage he falters in his obedience to her love, when he comes across a dwarf, driver of a cart, the dwarf tells Lancelot to ride in the cart in exchange for information on Guinevere’s whereabouts; Lancelot hesitates momentarily before leaping into the cart. Lancelot regrets this moment of hesitation and scolds himself, he argues “…Reason, who does not follow love’s command, told him to beware of getting in and admonished him…Love ordered and wished [he would ride in the cart]…; since love ruled his action, the disgrace should not have mattered.” 2 Lancelot is deeply ashamed and never falters

Malory emphasizes the importance of Christian ideals and having God be the primary focus throughout the tale, and with Lancelot unable to think of anything other than Guenevere, he cannot fully devote himself to his faith, thus hindering him spiritually, “if Sir Lancelot had not been so focused on the queen in all his innermost thoughts and feelings while only outwardly seeming to serve God, no knight would have been able to surpass him in the quest for the Holy Grail” (538). By dismissing his penitence and thinking only of Guenevere, Lancelot shows how lovesickness causes utter devotion to the object of the affections and a dearth of

The way he responds to the various actions of those around him gives more insight into who he really is. In chapter 4, it states, “Guinevere also ever looked on him with joy” (Malory pg 97). This shows the beginning of the temptation that conflicts Lancelot since he has to choose to stay on Arthur’s side or betray him by taking his queen. Then the text states, “Sir Lancelot, will ye leave me thus at this high feast” (Malory pg 273). Since the queen herself said this, it seems to indicate a deeper relationship with Lancelot and the reader can assume that he has betrayed Arthur by entering a relationship with Guinevere in secret.

An internal conflicted for Lancelot he had an old wound open up and wanted to leave the party. Lancelot wasn’t feeling like himself while listening to the stories being told about him. He had a sad look on his face and went up to King Arthur’s quarters to talk. Arthur asked if those stories were true and Lancelot said no. Lancelot had some internal conflicts during the story.

The adulterous affair between King Arthur’s most trusted knight Lancelot, and his wife, Guinevere, is symbolic to the coming of the mischievous serpent in God’s garden as a result to an end of a perfect world. According to the influential work of Sir Thomas Malory at the end of the 15th century, there became one of the major causes of the downfall of Arthur’s Round Table. Through various parts of literature, Lancelot’s romantic character becomes known. In The Knight of the Cart (ca. 1175), by Chrûtien de Troyes Sir Lanceolt rescues Guinevere from the evil knight, Meleagent, and ultimately spends the night with the queen in her chamber. He later listens and obeys every instruction she asks Lancelot to do, such as to do his worst in the Tournament. Another major romance of which Lancelot is the protagonist is the extensive early 13th-century Prose Lancelot, a part of the Vulgate Cycle of Arthurian romances. Here, he is raised by the Lady of the Lake, and by 18 sent to Arthur’s court after realizing his royal percentage. He is given a sword by Guinevere, who knights him in a ceremony of divided loyalties. He goes to act of numerous adventures for the king to earn his reputation, but his adultery with the queen disables his legitimacy to succeed in the quest for the Holy Grail. In the last romance of the cycle, Lancelot and the

Lancelot stays away from the Round Table to avoid Guenevere. He meets Perceval, a peasant boy, and takes him to Camelot to become a squire. Sir Gawain, under Morgana's influence, accuses Guenevere of driving Lancelot away, "driven from us by a woman's desire", forcing Lancelot to duel Gawain to defend his and Guenevere's honor. The preceding night, Lancelot duels himself in a nightmare and awakens to find himself wounded by his own sword. Arthur hastily knights Perceval when Lancelot is late to the duel, but Lancelot appears just in time and defeats Gawain while nearly dying from his wounds. Merlin heals him, and he rides

Once Lancelot departs from Shylock’s house, he finds shame and trouble in his service to Bassanio. Soon after Bassanio has employed Lancelot, Lorenzo makes a troubling report: “The Moor is with child by you, Lancelot,” (3.5.33). Lancelot has impregnated one of Portia’s servants, and elicits humiliation from Lorenzo, his new master’s friend, who calls him a “fool” (3.5.37). Though Lancelot seems flippant about the circumstance, it is clear that his superiors think him reckless and imprudent. He has opened up trouble for himself by neglecting his primary responsibility to Shylock, and mischief follows Lancelot for the rest of the play.

The reader can ask, “What is the motive behind Sir Tarquin’s quest?” Before Sir Lancelot and Sir Tarquin duel, Malory leaves this question open for the reader to make their own conclusion. As this episode progresses, the reader finally receives a clue as Sir Lancelot and Sir Tarquin exchange dialogue for the first time. Sir Lancelot makes it known he is a member of the Round Table and has come to save his fellow knights in distress. Sir Tarquin responds, “And thou be of the Round Table, I defy thee and all thy fellowship” (Mallory 105). Throughout the years, Sir Tarquin has targeted many knights who are of the fellowship of the Round Table. He has a burning hatred towards the King’s knights and he willfully rebels and challenges those who are members of the said company. With these words, Sir Tarquin clearly shows he is an enemy to the representatives of King Arthur’s court. His attitude