The Once And Future King Summary

Many characters in stories have one fatal flaw that can eventually lead to his or her downfall. In The Once and Future King by T.H. White and The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, the love triangle between King Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot is revealed. Guinevere is married to Arthur, but she has feelings for Lancelot who is Arthurs most trusted knight. Each of these three characters have characteristics that could be their fatal flaw. The fatal flaws of King Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot all contribute in one way or another, to Arthur’s downfall.

The Once and Future King, or King Arthur, is a legend that is, despite its age, known by all. Everyone has heard of King Arthur and his loyal knights that make up the Round Table, but the rest of the famous legend is less known. If asked about Arthur’s parentage or birthplace, most people would not know. How many people can name off Arthur’s knights? Everyone knows Arthur’s name, but the details are less defined. Arthurian legend has many parts, the first being how Arthur came into being, then the most well-known part of the legend, but there is also his famous knights, the possibility of a historical Arthur, and how the legend has evolved over the ages.

Who was King Arthur? Most people would tell of a great King; a devoted circle of heroic knights; mighty castles and mightier deeds; a time of chivalry and courtly love; of Lancelot and Guinevere; of triumph and death. Historians and archaeologists, especially Leslie Alcock, point to shadowy evidence of a man who is not a king, but a commander of an army, who lived during the late fifth to early sixth century who may perhaps be the basis for Arthur. By looking at the context in which the stories of King Arthur survived, and the evidence pertaining to his castle Camelot and the Battle of Badon Hill, we can begin to see that Arthur is probably not a king as the legend holds.

Many books and movies use Le Morte D’Arthur as their main reference because as said, that was the first time it was officially introduced by Sir Thomas Malory. Many believe that the Arthurian legend is one of the best legends, the retelling of the legend has been incredible developed and translated and still have similar morals.The legend includes many sexual details, betrayal, adultery, revenge, violence and many more issues that are adult material. In order for the legend to be appropriate for children many famous authors modify the tales and characters for their younger audience. T.H.White novel “The Once and Future King” and the film based on his work “The Sword in the Stone” both were adapted for children viewing and learning

A king was expected to sit on his throne, give demands to his people and rule his kingdom. It is unheard of for a medieval King to charge around on his horse and organize knights or to look for the Holy Grail. According to the information that has been given; King Arthur has fought in twelve battles. However, based on the facts, these battles took place in so many different times and places that it would have been impossible for one man to participate in all of them. The actions of King Arthur do not correspond with the typical actions of a king because after the death of his mother, Merlin (the powerful wizard) took him away. Merlin gave young Arthur away to Sir Ector, who raised young Arthur as his son. However, Sir Ector did not know that young Arthur was the son of Uther Pendragon (King of Britain). Eleven years later, the young Arthur ends up pulling the sword out of the stone and becomes the king of Britain. For a kid to pull the sword out of the stone subsequently and being crowned after that event is very extraordinary.

Mr. P is thinking about eating him. At this instance Wart has enough time to turn around and swim away just in the nick-of-time to escape from Mr. P.

As an ant he learned through a negative example to understand what you are getting yourself into before it’s to late. This happens when Arthur doesn’t know what belligerent means while Merlyn is talking about the ants, “’The ants are not our Norman ones, dear boy. They come from the Africa shore. They are belligerent.’ ‘I don’t know what belligerent is.’” (White 115) Arthur learns not to be a super controlling leader because your citizens will get bored and not like you. This is portrayed when Arthur is in the colony of bored ants and they have a totalitarian leader, “A strange feature was that the ordinary ants were not excited by the songs, nor interested by the lectures.” (White 122) Next Arthur is transformed into a rook and he learns to not destroy or kill something if it is not necessary. This is shown when Merlyn’s pet owl says, “no owl kills for pleasure.” (White 156) In addition he was transformed into a wild goose and he learned to try to solve your problems without fighting. He was taught this lesson while talking with a goose, “’I like fighting,’ said the Wart. ‘It is knightly.’” and the goose responded, “Because you’re a baby.” (White

Arthur is simple minded and optimistic and has hopes of things that are way out of his league to even expect to happen. He takes on the same traits when he was a young boy in Forest Sauvage, naïve and feeling strongly about justice. Although Arthur may have known about Jenny and Lancelot, he didn’t say anything because he didn’t want them to suffer so he acted completely oblivious to the entire situation. Because of Arthur’s childlike attitude, it affected all three of them tremendously and also Arthur’s form of government. Another theme that is in effect in both books is the importance of knighthood. The playfulness of this still appears in Book I and Book IV, for example, King Pellinore’s refusal to kill the Questing Beast is as pointless as the trials by combat that happen in the fourth book. The Once and Future King not only revolved around knighthood and chivalry, but it implied what was to happen in the future. It was easy to pick up on the foreshadowing in both of these books. In the first book for example, Merlyn can see the future so therefore he prepares the Wart for what is ahead of him. While Wart explores the animal kingdom he realizes that “Might is Right” is unjust from what he saw from the ants, and Mr. P. While reading book one I knew that Arthur was going to be king because there were insinuations leading up to the point of his rein. Toward the near end of the book Thomas is presented and

Centuries ago a kingdom said to be built upon a foundation of purity, justice, and chivalry emerged from the abyss of war and blood known as the world. The kingdom was ruled over by Arthur Pendragon stories say he was a fair king and what all leaders should strive to be, but what if these stories were wrong. What if the legendary once and future king was a paranoid abusive and cruel man who much preferred looting, murder, and drinking to going on quests, helping those in need, and properly ruling his kingdom. What if Camelot was being ripped apart not by the king's son, but Arthur himself would people still love him. What if Morgana La Fey was trying to use her magic to save the people of Camelot from Arthur. What if Arthur's most trusted adviser

He is scared by the pressures of power and is intimidated based off his past experiences. Earlier in the novel, while talking to the badger he says, “I should have liked to go to war” (White 187). Through his experiences with Merlin, he now believes that ruling in a noble way is more important than intimidating the people one rules over. He adapts the mind set and ideals of his teacher, Merlin. Merlin consistently believes that jousting and tilting are foolish and childish. He passes his ideals on to Wart through showing him how foolish it is to joust when he takes Wart to see King Pellinore and Sir Grummore fight for no reason. He shows Wart that bravery isn't what he was traditionally taught and bravery is really shown when one has knowledge and a just mind-set. White develops this motif through the theme that power corrupts and one must rule with equality and bravery in order to be a strong leader. This theme is explored and embodied through Merlin and his teachings. Through Merlin, Wart learns what it means to be a capable and knowledgable leader. With his strong militaristic background and intellectual experiences, Arthur is given potential to be a wise

In "The Once and Future King", the binary theme of innocence and eduction is vital to the plot. In the book, Arthur chooses to be innocent and ignore the fact that Guenever and Lancelot are sleeping together, "Remind me to warn you about Guenever another time." (White 266) If Arthur had chosen to listen to everyone, including Merlyn, and confronted Lancelot and Guenever about the affair before it became a problem, then less people would have died. After Lancelot came back from his quest to find the Holy Grail, he had regained some of his innocence, because he realized that sleeping was wrong. "Lancelot had said, apologizing and begging her not to think him offensive...that they can not go back to the way they were before the Grail...that if

Lastly, respect and value for authority, seen or unseen, displays a spiritual element in the stories "Morte d'Arthur and "The Once and Future King." In Tennyson's "Morte d'Arthur," Sir Bedivere received a command from the dying Arthur to "take Excalibur, and fling him far into the middle mere." Twice, Bedivere defied Arthur's wishes. Arthur is harsh with Bedivere because of his disobedience saying, "Ah miserable and unkind, untrue, unknightly, traitor-hearted!" As soon as these comments left Arthur's mouth, Sir Bedivere quickly returned to the lake and launched the sword into the heart of it. Respect and the importance of mentors can also be seen in "The Once and Future King." In this story, Merlin represents the role of mentor to knights

For the last interview, I thought I would keep the questions short and sweet. I asked a series of ten questions, five in which are simple yes and no questions. The first question referred back to unit eleven and is actually the first question asked about The Once and Future King. The question I asked was what traits and/or characteristics do you posses that are important for the exercise of leadership? This question caught my eye because as a leader it is good to ask yourself evaluating question such as this one to continue developing as a leader. Peggy answered by saying, “Most important characteristics are motivation and persistence. Keeping staff motivated by remaining positive to me is key.” The next question is also based off of the

Rudyard Kipling’s novella,“The Man Who Would Be King”, is about two English men, Daniel Dravot and Peachey Carnehan, who are cons artists that live in India with the goal of becoming the kings of Kafiristan. The story is told through a narrator, an Englishman, that stumbles upon the two characters through a strange interaction at a train station. After meeting up with the narrator at his job, Dravot and Carnehan gather as much information as they can about Kafiristan and head off in disguise for their journey to becoming kings. There are many similarities regarding how and why the British Empire and Dravot and Carnehan came to imperialize these Indian countries. Throughout the whole novella, Kipling uses the story as a way to display

Although King Arthur is one of the most well-known figures in the world, his true identity remains a mystery. Attempts to identify the historical Arthur have been unsuccessful, since he is largely a product of fiction. Most historians, though, agree that the real Arthur was probably a battle leader of the Britons against the Anglo-Saxons in the sixthth century. In literature, King Arthur's character is unique and ever changing, taking on a different face in every work. There is never a clearly definitive picture that identifies Arthur's character. It is therefore necessary to look at a few different sources to get better insight into the character of Arthur, the once and future king.