Why Do We Love Lancelot

Chrétien presents very exaggerated and near comical scenes of Lancelot expressing his love. Initially Lancelot’s mind oscillates between reason and love but eventually love takes hold and shapes all of his decisions. In a plague-like manner we see Lancelot’s decisions and thoughts become more and more irrational. From attempting suicide multiple times to thinking he can defeat hundreds of knights at once, Lancelot becomes a changed man. He values the ideals of love over his religion, his knighthood, his honor, and even his life.

"I finished and I had a lonely last four laps but she ran four and a half laps barely being able to run. I'm so impressed and inspired that she did that. I've never met her before. Like, I've never met this girl before. And isn't that just so amazing? That's an amazing moment. Regardless of the race and the result on the board, that's a moment that you're never, ever going to forget."

Tom’s blush deepened, and throwing caution to the wind, he gave a coy shake of his head. “That’s not what I meant. I thought… well, I dunno… I thought maybe this time I could… you know… suck you.”

(160). At the beginning of the story, Merlin didn’t even want to be in the same room as her. Now that he has come as far as talking to her, it is a sure sign of

Loyalty is very necessary for a knight, and Lancelot shows it vividly. Lancelot is not in a position that he is proud of when the problem comes, but he still works for what he believes in. Lancelot is facing a public trial in Camelot. Suddenly, Camelot is surrounded by the army of Malagant. He threated King Arthur to give him the city, or everybody will die. King Arthur starts the battle with Malagant’s army, and he gets shoots in his chest four times by crossbow. Lancelot goes into the crown, and he fights with Malagant who is also really good at sword. It is a really tough fight, so both of them gets injured. He does not give up, and he kills Malagant eventually. Lancelot is not trusted by King Arthur at the time when Camelot is invaded, because he is caught kissing Guinevere. He may be killed by King Arthur, and he can just run away due to the enormous chaos in the city at that tie. But he remembers that he is a knight, and he cannot fail the people in Camelot. So he picks up a sword, and helps people to defend their city. When he is fighting with Malagant, he tries to save an old man under the brutal broadsword of a knight of Malagant. He gets injured because of this action. All Lancelot has done shows everyone that he has loyalty to the city, Camelot, and his lord, King Arthur.

“Man that kid was fast , I think that is one of the fastest person I have ever raced.”

Arthur sighed, tipped his head back, and stared up at the heavens. “Damn it, no, Gawain. I would never want that. I can’t imagine ruling without you by my side.” He lowered his gaze. “I hate you sometimes, but even with that, I still love you as a brother and always will.”

Whatever Merlin dislike Arthur, the prince of Camelot and has been bullied by him in the 1 episode in the first season, but he learns that without Arthur, Albion would fail exist. For that, Merlin is not reckless and selfish. He is not concerned on his own benefit and emotion. As Mary Collin kill Arthur by throwing the knife at him, Merlin using power of magical to slow down the speed of the throwing to save Arthur and end up become his manservant.

After bearing the loss of Guinevere, Lancelot experiences a collapse in his mental and physical stability. He could no longer remain a knight and “[live] the thoughtless life that scars the soul” (Bridges 15). Living in a luxurious world as a distinguished knight would not bring back the love of his life. Lancelot renounces his knighthood and embraces a religious life. He slowly perishes under a reclusive lifestyle as a monk, a withdrawal from the materialistic world. Every day, Lancelot “came unto the grave, and mourn’d and faded, till his strength no more” could keep him alive. Unable to accept the death of Guinevere, Lancelot continuously fasts and refuses to fall asleep, personally punishing himself. He allows his health and himself to gradually deteriorate. Moreover, Lancelot experiences an emotional breakdown in addition to his physical declination. At Guinevere’s funeral, Lancelot’s “hot tears fell adown” as he listened to others speak about Guinevere (Bridges 51). Those tears symbolize his everlasting love for Guinevere and his pain of losing his beloved. Lancelot initially suffered the consequences of loss before Guinevere died. Guinevere “had plead to see him nevermore” in hopes to purify her soul (Bridges 120). With a cleansed soul, she could return to Arthur’s side only to leave Lancelot alone to grieve in his sorrows. By portraying Lancelot in a pitiful state,

Sir Lancelot was the first knight to ever join the round table. He was loved by all, feared by many. He would risk his life to serve other countless of times, never failed in politeness and his passion and courage great. He was the pinnacle of what a knight should be, the poster child of what true chivalry is. This reputation followed him throughout his life but, in the end, he himself was his greatest downfall. Throughout this

Sir Lancelot’s quest for the holy grail had become one of the most famous tales of Sir Lancelot. One evening, the night before Pentecost, A young woman, which was deemed beautiful, Came into the castle of King Arthur and requested that Sir Lancelot To follow her into the forest. Lancelot, the most chivalrous knight in the realm agreed. The two rode into the forest until they had come upon a nunnery. As Lancelot Entered the nunnery he noticed that two of his cousins were

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.

Moving on, though Geoffrey’s description of Merlin’s resident forest is picturesque, it must be noted that the forest in Arthurian tradition held “demonic elements, the ancestral spirits, and the forces of nature...” The Medieval society existed in a microcosm – anything outside the boundaries of said society existed the dark and unknown – this was the land of monsters. In the Vita, this is where Merlin chooses to reside, and in Robert’s Merlin, Merlin becomes one of these spirits himself: “[Gawain] continued the quest for Merlin, going all through the realm of Logres and at length to Little Britain. As he was riding through the forest at Broceliande, he heard Merlin speaking, but could not see him. / Merlin said that he could never come

Merlin uses his sight to guide him while talking to others. He knew that he had to betray the Duke of Cornwall at the beginning of the novel

Sir Leon now stood in the Throne Room looking at the faces that surrounded him. Percival was there, as strong and silent as ever, but there were so many faces he would never see again: Lancelot, who had given his life to save Arthur those many years ago; Elyan who had died because of treachery; Gwaine, killed by Morgana in the most painful manner possible. Arthur was dead and Merlin was still missing.