The passion of love, treachery of betrayal and triumph of justice. It is not often today that we find three such vastly different characteristics woven into a tale so vividly. The epic Le Morte Darthur not only possesses these three characteristics, but delves deeply into the meaning and soul of them, most decidedly in the story of Sir Pelleas and Lady Ettard. The saga of these two tragic individuals clearly demonstrates the classic characteristics of a knight as well as the concept of morality in Arthurian times.
From childhood, we learn about gallant knights in shining armour who heroically save the damsel in distress on their brilliantly white horse. We believe these men to be good-hearted, moral, and emotionally sound. It is nearly sacrilegious to merely conceptualize a knight who is corrupt or evil in any way. Many of these ideals stem from the Knights of the Round Table, who withheld many of these beliefs and embodied all of these characteristics. Perhaps the sole creator of this "ideal" knight is King Arthur, for it is he who first laid down a set of marked commandments that he expected his knights to embody. In the tale of Sir Pelleas and Lady Ettard, it is evident that Pelleas successfully epitomizes these characteristics.
King Arthur first and foremost expected his knights to show mercy. Upon discovery of Ettard and Sir Gawain in bed together, and Gawain's betrayal, Pelleas is angry, hurt and confused. Such a combination of emotions could easily lead to his lashing out in murder, but he maintains composure and sacrifices the life of Gawain, because he wishes to "never destroy the high order of knighthood." (Malory 78). He instead chooses to lay his sword across their throats as a warning that they have been disc...
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...imately, morality perseveres as Pelleas finds true love and happiness with Nenive, while Ettard is condemned to death of a broken heart, and Gawain must forever live with the guilt of his deeds. The reader is left enlightened, having learned that one is not required to resort the level of deception to attain success in life, but that happiness can be found through honesty and truth.
In the collection of stories known as Le Morte Darthur, only one stands alone as a true testament to the morals of the knights of the Round Table: the tale of Sir Pelleas and Lady Ettard. Throughout this story, it becomes evident that Pelleas does successfully embody all characteristics of a knight as prescribed by King Arthur. It is also apparent that morality and truth will always triumph over lies and treason. Through the pain of love, and corruption of betrayal, justice will be had.
In this tale Lyonet was sent to find a noble knight to rescue her sister from the Red Knight of the Red Launds.When she came to King Arthur’s court to ask of such a knight to aid her, a man to the name of Sir Beaumains asked to be the one to rescue the sister of Lyonet. At this point of the tale Sir Beaumains was considered to be not as noble as Lyonet had wanted. Beaumains wouldn’t leave her on her journey back to her sister. Lyonet kept referring to Beaumains as a kitchen knave from King Arthur’s court and would give him no respect as a knight. Throughout the journey Beaumains would not reveal his true identity and Lyonet kept wishing him gone. She would tell all of the knights that they came across in their journey what kind of man he was and taunt them to get them to fight. Every time Beaumains would win. Finally Beumains overcame the Red knight of the Red Launds and saved Lyonet’s sister, Dame Lyonesse. Once Lyonesse was freed she fell madly in love with Beaumains and wanted to be with him. Everytime Lyonesse would sneak into the room to “be with” Beaumains Lyonet would send a knight into the room and to do great harm to Beaumains so that they could not do the things they were trying to do. Lyonet never trusted Beaumains to be a truly noble knight until his name was revealed and his lineage was known.
Life during the Middle Ages was full of social change, division, and classism. This feudal society of Britain was divided into three estates. (social classes) Within the second estate was the the knight who was a soldier for the king who fought in many battles. Even though the knight is expected to have the strength and the skills to fight in battle, all knights during the Medieval period additionally had a chivalrous aspect to them. Chivalry was the honor code of a knight which included bravery, courtesy, honor, and gallantry toward women. Within the stories of the “Wife of Bath’s Tale” and “Le Morte d’Arthur”, the code of chivalry was broken by knights which show the corruption of England’s feudal society.
T.H. White is directly referenced within the film and Malory’s idealization of the glory of chivalry can once again be seen. In my essay, I will show how chivalry is used in all the texts above as a bonding agent between all Arthurian knights. As Arthur’s knights honor and respect chivalry they remain as one cohesive group, but once they begin to abandon chivalry the Round Table begins to crumble and chaos ensues. Annotated Bibliography Sprague, Kurth “Conclusion.” Arthuriana 16.3 (2006): 129-152.
The figure of Gawain throughout Arthurian literature is an interesting one; he appears in more texts as a secondary character than any other knight named, and often gains glory even at the expense of the main hero (Busby 1980, 5). The first characteristic which separates him from the other knights is his relationship to Arthur: it is usually stated that he is Arthur's sister's son, a kinship that is found from William of Malmesbury's Gesta Regum Anglorum (c. 1125) and Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (c. 1136) onward (Busby 1980, 31). However, it is notable that Gawain often seems more like a type than an individual; in Old French literature he is never the subject of a biographical romance, as are most of the other knights, he never has one particular lady's name associated with him, and he is frequently used as a constant against which other knights are judged, the perfect embodiment of good qualities, more a symbol of perfection than an actual person (Busby 1980, 7).
One of the most enduring myths in the Western world is that of Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Regardless of the origins of the tales, the fact is that by the time they had been filtered through a French sensibility and re-exported to England, they were representations of not one but several ideals. Courtly love and chivalry and the various components thereof, such as martial prowess, chastity, bravery, courtesy, and so on, were presented as the chief virtues to aspire to, and the knights as role models. Arthur's eventual fall is precisely because of having failed at some level to fulfill these ideals in his life.
The Arthurian legends of Iwein and Gawain and the Green Knight are two examples of the medieval initiation story: a tale in which a character, usually in puberty or young adulthood, leaves home to seek adventures and, in the process, maturity. Through the course of their adventures, including a meeting with the man of the wilderness, temptations at the hands of women, and a permanent physical or mental wounding, the character grows from adolescent awkwardness and foolishness to the full potential knightly honor. While both Arthurian legends fit this format, the depth of character development, specifically in terms of relationships, is vastly different. Whereas Gawain and the Green Knight does little more with relationships than demonstrate the evils of female temptations, Iwein effectively explores the formation, destruction, and resurrection of numerous male and female relationships.
Sir Gawain’s inner ideals and character are adequately tested and thoroughly defined throughout the poem of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. During the course of his journey, Gawain was not only expected to maintain his honor to King Author, Lord Bertilak, Lady Bertilak, and the Green Knight, but was expected to maintain it while still loyally adhering to his chivalric and religious obligations. As a knight, it is important that he is loyal first and foremost to his God and religion just as importantly to his king. However, on his journey, Sir Gawain does not entirely live up to the integrity of a good knight as he struggles with conflicting values between his faith and knighthood. Although his honor appears to be questionable at times, Gawain’s nobility and bravery are shown in his compliance to face the Green Knight while withstanding the temptations and seduction of the lady, proving that he is truly an honorable knight.
During the Medieval Times, knights hold high status and are seen as sovereign, yet their actions are contradicting. Knights stand for loyalty, justice, and chivalry; however, most are liars, cheaters, and foolish. Throughout medieval literature, authors create characters that contain both attributes and utilize literary elements to highlight this medieval crisis. Many Knights maintain a loyal and noble character because chivalry outlasts hypocrisy.
“The Knight’s Tale”, for example, uses the concept of a knight not only to parody the concept of the hero, but also to question the well-established courtly love convention. This last concept refers to a set of ideas about love that was enormously influential on the literature and culture of the medieval times for it gave men the chance to feel freely. Also, it gave women the opportunity to be an important element in the story – not only decorative. However, when scrutinizing the tale, the readers can realise that all the aspects of a knight’s love are exaggerated and conveyed throu...
Lanval, a handsome knight, falls desperately in love with a beautiful maiden, who grants the knight her love on the condition that he keep their bliss in full secrecy. Upon returning home, Lanval is confronted by Guinevere, who attempts to seduce him . After her initial advances are rejected, the Queen tries a new tactic, attacking Lanval 's masculinity: "I have been told often enough that you have no desire for women. Base coward, wicked recreant, my lord is extremely unfortunate to have suffered you near him. " By questioning Lanval 's worthiness to serve by Arthur, Guinevere is questioning Lanval 's very status as a knight, and once again we see a knightly protagonist put into a hopeless situation as many of his chivalric duties--- courteousness to the Queen, faithfulness to his King, honesty and loyalty to his lover, and defense of his own honor--- are forced into an unresolvable conflict. Lanval defends his honor and honors his King 's trust, but breaks his promise to his lover and grievously insults the Queen: "I love and am loved by a lady who should be prized above all others... you can be sure that one of her servants, even the very poorest girl, is worth more than you, my lady the Queen, in body, face and beauty, wisdom and goodness. " Lanval 's inability to simultaneously commit to all of his knightly responsibilities is comically underscored by his polite hesitation ("my lady the Queen") even
Temptations that function to separate us from our morality are difficult to overcome. Throughout the poem, Gawain struggles to reject the temptations provided
Marie de France’s “Lanval” is a Breton lai dominated by themes common to 12th century literature, which through its exploration of love, erotic desire, wealth, gender and community, tells the story of a young knight who finds himself caught between two worlds: his lover’s and his own. Forced to separate these societies by a warning in which his lover states, “do not let any man know about this…you would lose me for good if this love were known” (Lines 145-148), Lanval must keep his love a secret and exist apart from the Arthurian world into which he was born. Consequently, romantic love between Lanval and his fairie queen exists conditionally, that is upon Lanval’s physical and emotional isolation. This restriction suggests that romantic love, as described in terms of erotic desire and physical/emotional devotion throughout “Lanval,” is unsuited for existence in the mundanity of Arthurian society. Therefore, Lanval’s solitude is necessary for his maintaining his relationship with the fairie queen, a fact that suggests the incompatibility of romantic love with Arthurian society, as Marie depicts it.
As this mythical poem begins readers are quickly introduced to the pinnacle of this “pyramid of power”, the king and queen. King Arthur and his “full beauteous” wife Queen Guinevere were “set in the midst, placed on the rich dais adorned all about” (Neilson 3). During this time, royal monarchs often hosted large illustrious gatherings in order to display their wealth, prestige and power. This display of rank is evident when the all powerful “King Arthur and the other knights watch approvingly as Sir Gawain advances” to take the place of his cherished king and accept the Green Knights challenge (Swanson 1). Randy Schiff further clarifies the difference between kings and knights in medieval times when he states, “ Displaying his mastery of courtly deference, Gawain in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” publicly defines himself through kinship, telling Arthur that he is praiseworthy only “for as much” as Arthur is his “em” (uncle)”(1). In the fourteenth century feudal system the top ranking social class position belong to the king and the queen.
One of Geoffrey's less believable main characters is the Knight, for reasons of chivalry. The knight displays many traits which make him seem almost too good to be true, and a true gentleman that rarely exists in reality. The narrator sums up the knights character by stating that "Though he were worthy, he was wys,/And of his port as meeke as is a mayde." (pg. 5, The Canterbury Tales) The knight holds four main admirable traits, making him the most liked traveler in "The Canterbury Tales," and also amplying the doubt of his realism. The reader is prepared to learn of each of his noble accomplishments and importance when the narrator remarks that" A knight ther was, and that a worthy man,/That fro the tyme that he first bigan/To ryden out, he loved chivalrye,/Trouthe and honour, fredom and curteisye." (pg. 4, The Canterbury Tales) From the characters impressive introduction, it is clear that this man is the most valued and honorable traveler among the group. This perfect gentleman holds a love of ideals that are often not displayed by people. First and foremost, he believes in the ideals of chivalry, and always stays true to its principles. He also feels that one should be honest, truthful and faithful, which many people are not all of these ideals. The knight thinks one should only do what is right, and what will gain him honor and reputation. This character also believes in freedom and generosity towards all, and displays this ideal repeatedly throughout the novel. And lastly, the knight also strongly feels that any proper person should display courtesy and elegance at all times. Another aspect of this character's life which makes him seem too prestigious to be truthful is his impressive military career. He fought in the holy war, known as the Crusades and was involved in 15 "mortal battles." In the prologue, the narrator informs the reader that "Ful worthy was he in his lordes werre,/And therto hadde he riden, no man ferre,/As wel in Cristendom as hethenesse,/And ever honoured for his worthinesse.
How would you describe Sir Lancelot? Most people would say he is the strongest, bravest, and kindest knight of the round table. Some might say he is the biggest Benedict Arnold of all time because of the adultery he committed with Queen Guinevere. However, his chivalry and code of honor make him the epitome of a true gentleman. These contrasting qualities set Sir Lancelot apart from all the other knights and characters in the “Morte D’Arthur.” Lancelot’s gallant, courageous, and conflicting personality make him a complex character in this dramatic tale of love and betrayal.