Chrétien De Troyes The Knight Of The Cart

Arthur’s knights were his most trusted friends and family, but ironically, he is betrayed by the best of them. The most reputed of Arthur’s knights are Sir Lancelot and Sir Tristram. Sir Lancelot was the leader of the Knights of the Round Table and Arthur’s most trusted friend, but he was involved in an illicit love affair. This affair was with Arthur’s

Although it is hinted, one could say that King Arthur knew of the relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere but chose to look the other way in fear of losing Sir Lancelot. Sir Lancelot is an example of what a perfect knight would be in the True Knighthood. His honor to King Arthur is what King Arthur holds precious to himself. These three men want to stay loyal to one another and fight against what others are trying to say.

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.

Elements of the medieval romance are evident in the movie First Knight. As such Chivalry is clearly evident through the action of Lancelot in the First Knight. This is shown when he goes out to rescue Lady Guinevere from the ambush in the forest and from Malagant castle where she is being held captive after being kidnaped in Camelot, Therefore, this is a clear depiction of chivalry in where the knight goes out to save the damsel in distress from danger. Another act of chivalry is when Lancelot embarks into the gauntlet which is a contraption that test one’s courage, bravery, and skill to be able to pass. Therefore, Lancelot goes through the gauntlet without any protection to display his skill and bravery to impress Guinevere. Consequently,

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.

Lancelot proves his talent with a sword when talking to a townsman named John. Lancelot tells that the only way to win a sword fight is by being the only one with a sword (First Knight). Lancelot is strong enough to admit when he is in the wrong, he knows when he is bad for something or someone, and allows himself to leave, in order to make the place or person better. This is shown when Lancelot proclaims “I’ve never believed in anything before. But I do believe in Camelot, and I would serve it best by leaving” (First Knight).

The conventions of courtly love stem from the precise chivalric code of knights in the Middle Ages and passionate romances of European medieval folklore. Fantastic tales of dauntless knights and their fair damsels, often set in King Arthur’s kingdom

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

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.

Two conflicting disciplines are prevalent throughout Arthurian Legend; that of chivalry and that of courtly love. The ideal of each clash throughout the medieval tales, and it is impossible to interfuse the two models for society. Chivalry is a masculine code, an aggressive discipline, whereas courtly love is based upon women - their needs, wants, and desires. The consistent problem if Lancelot and Guinevere’s adulterous relationship in different tellings of the affair relates back to the differences presented in chivalric code and courtly love ideals.

In the Medieval Period, knights dedicated their lives to following the code of chivalry. In Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, a number of characters performed chivalrous acts to achieve the status of an ideal knight. Their characteristics of respect for women and courtesy for all, helpfulness to the weak, honor, and skill in battle made the characters King Arthur, King Pellinore, and Sir Gryfflette examples of a what knights strove to be like in Medieval society. Because of the examples ofchivalry, Le Morte d’Arthur showed what a knight desired to be, so he could improve theworld in which he lived.

In Geoffrey Chaucer’s poem, The Knight’s Tale, the author encapsulates chivalrous characteristics in his telling of a battle for love. In its fundamental form, chivalry idealizes a knight’s conduct, both on and off the battlefield (Gregory-Abbott). Chaucer employs this “heroic code [of] bravery, loyalty, and service to one's lord” to illustrate the idillic knight throughout the narrative (Rossignol). Chaucer’s poem, The Knight’s Tale, exhibits the ideals of chivalry in the form of two knights, desperately in love with the same woman, and a wise Duke who embodies the voice of reason. Each knight upholds honor through compassion, troths, and heroism on the battlefield, despite their afflictions with each other.

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

In The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer tells “The Knight’s Tale”, a story of the two knights Palamon and Arcite who fall deeply in love with Princess Emily, a member of Theseus’ kingdom. Even though both knights are imprisoned within a tower, each finds a way to escape jail and try to win Emily. Ultimately, this leads to a duel between the two knights for which the prize is the hand of Emily. Chaucer uses the knights to reflect the very male-oriented time period through the strong chivalry and courtly love displayed towards Emily, when in reality, he was trying to expose the flaws of the chivalric code, which led to the deadly feud between two fellow knights. Essentially, Chaucer is holding up a magnifying glass to what people of the

I believe the reading demonstrates the power that love has on Lancelot. For example when the queen fell out of view from him, he thinks to "throw himself from the window and shatter his body on the ground below," shows how the power of love affects his mind. Lancelot, dominated by his love for Guinevere, is forced into decisions that normally a noble knight wouldn’t do. Love conquers Lancelot’s entire soul, forces him to irrational and unrighteous actions that cause him pain and harm. Love is an emotion that can