The Death of King Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory - Literature review Example

If Malory’s “The Death of King Arthur” is a tragedy, who is the tragic hero/heroine? What is their mistake or flaw, and where do we see it dramatized (in earlier tales as well as the Death)? How believable is it psychologically? “The Death of King Arthur” by Sir Thomas Malory is a tale which revolves mainly around the happenings in the lives of King Arthur, his wife Queen Guinevere and Lancelot and then finally their deaths. Lancelot is a loyal knight to the king till the end and even when the King comes to attack him at the Joyous Gard as well as after he is banished, he is reluctant to fight against the King which portrays his submission and respect for King Arthur. He also obeys his order and goes in exile and hands over his love, Guinevere to the King as per the orders of the Pope. This book is real tragedy with a tragic ending which meets most of the characters owing to the death of King Arthur followed by his queen and then Lancelot as well. It is a tragedy and Lancelot can be considered to be the tragic hero in this part of the tale. Lancelot is a very brave and courageous knight who is very obedient to King Arthur but he actually mars his obedience due to his illicit relationship with the wife of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere. He loves Guinevere but never pursues his love so openly before but he overcomes his boundaries and submits to his love. Lancelot is a man who follows ethical principles and Sir Thomas Malory makes his entry in the book in "The Noble Tale of Sir Lancelot Du Lac". He is a very good fighter and he overcomes the spells of Morgan le Fay and does not indulge in any relationship with a woman because he is truly in love with Guinevere. He totally abides by the social norms and does not openly declare his love for her for she is the King’s wife and nor does he indulge in any intimate relationship with her but his love for her is obvious. He succeeds in many fights but he actually flaws his character when he starts displaying his love for the queen openly and his adultery is openly expressed in these words in the book "So, to passe upon thys tale, Sir Launcelot wente to bedde with the Quene and toke no force of hys hurte honed, but toke hys plesaunce and hys lyknge untyll hit was the dawning of the day"(Malory, book 7). This is the point of his major flaw and it is from here that his act is discovered openly. He loves the queen previously as well and abides to what she asks him to do but his major flaw is the fact that he actually openly accepts it. His flaw is dramatized previously as well when he actually sends the knights that he defeats to the Queen to ask for forgiveness rather than to the King which symbolizes his love for her. He also rejects the love of other women by saying that "a true lover does not desire to embrace in love anyone except his beloved."(Malory, book 3) The mistake of Lancelot makes him end with a tragic ending. His mistake can also be considered to be a reason for the death of King Arthur because King Arthur leaves the throne and follows Lancelot to fight against him leaving Mordred as the in charge of the throne and this is when Mordred betrays the king and tries to take over the throne. Lancelot was a brave knight who knew how to control his powers and he did not kill Gawain despite of the fact that he fought with him thrice and he said “if I were the winner and ought to cut off his head, I should not kill him for all the world"(Malory, book 8) which explains the fact that he is a good fighter and did not misuse his strength. Such was his character that even Gawain eventually realized that Gawain’s persuasion of King Arthur to fight against Lancelot was a wrong decision and when he was dying he expressed his sorrow by saying that his "soul would be more at rest after [his] death" only if he had received an opportunity to "beg [Lancelots] forgiveness for having been so uncourtly to him" (Malory, book 8). He meets a tragic end because he is eventually left alone as the King dies in the battle with Mordred. Queen Guinevere becomes a nun after the death of King Arthur and when Lancelot finds this out he also adopts the path of a monk. He is left alone and he is grieved as he realizes his mistakes. Eventually the Queen also dies and he takes the right decision by supporting her burial with King Arthur. Realizing all his flaws and the fact that he was lonely drives him to fall ill and it is after this that Lancelot dies soon after the death of the Queen meeting a tragic end. He loses his loyalty to the king and at the same time he cannot also achieve his love in his life. Many aspects of the consideration of Lancelot are difficult to be believed psychologically. This is due to the fact that he was one of the known knights who highly upheld the “Pentecostal Oath” but with time, changes occur and he eventually starts pursuing his love openly. Such a flaw by a knight with such obedience and submissiveness along with awareness of the social norms cannot be justified psychologically. He was one of the brave knights of King Arthur and he lost his love as well as the King died. Thus “The Death of King Arthur” by Sir Thomas Malory is a tragedy with many losses towards the end of the story. Lancelot is the tragic hero who loses everything that he has just because of one mistake that he makes of truly loving the Queen who is the wife of King Arthur and then actually openly declaring his love for her. His wrong step account for the death of King Arthur as well indirectly. He also becomes a monk towards the end and is unable to achieve his love as well. Works Cited Malory, Thomas. Book 111:The Noble Tale of Sir Launcelot Du Lac Malory, Thomas. Book VII: Sir Launcelot and Queen Gwenyvere Malory, Thomas. Book V111: The Death of King Arthur. Read More