The Knight of the Cart by Chrtien de Troyess - Literature review Example

Lancelot Chivalry Lancelot: or, the Knight of the Cart by Chrétien de Troyes’s is a tale that depicts the life of a knight that is surrounded by the need to have their valor as well as a romantic relationship. The protagonist, Lancelot is seen to be interested of having a love affair with Guinevere (queen), a woman that is taken hostage by a king’s son, Méléagant. Lancelot is seen in a constant endeavor to ensure that she is mindful of his duties as a knight as well as demonstrating his passion for to have Guinevere as his lover. The episodes revealing Lancelot’s commitment to pursue Guinevere, even after her abduction reveals the love that he has for her. In addition, he ends up killing Gawain’s horse in the process. Even at the midst of shame, while riding on the dwarf’s cart, Lancelot is committed to ensuring that he is able to meet his objective; find Guinevere and have her back. The incidents on the way, and the ultimate partying of ways with Gawain were a trying moment, which proved that Lancelot was motivated by love in making the sacrifices. Lancelot is presented as a person obsessed with love such that he makes dangerous sacrifices. After the abduction of Guinevere, Lancelot commits himself to taking action without considering the consequences in totality. Though he endangers his life and his reputation, he meets many challenges on the way that he overcomes. His success was demonstrated in the final tournament where, “maids called him marvellous to watch; none stood a chance to be his bride” (p.166). The ride on the dwarf’s cart is one of the incidences that present his lack of making an adequate consideration due to the strong drive by the passion to have Guinevere back. He considers the use of a cart which is described to be for “all who lead a life of crime; of murderers and traitors fell, those who in legal combat fell” (p.10). In his case, he is quite obsessed with love and easily forgets to be reasonable and take all the necessary precautions. His passion makes him to look like a fool but he is able to cope and reach where he wanted to get to. Through his commitment to pursuing Guinevere, his passion pays off since at the closure of the story is a heroic one for him. The strength and honor that Lancelot gets makes him to be perceived to be famous, heroic, and ultimately chivalrous. From a natural perspective, Lancelot is depicted as a hero due to his ability to the fact that he is able to meet the quest to have Guinevere as his lover. He makes attempts to have her, some of which are successful while others land him in trouble. He is a courtly lover that demonstrates what it means to have a passion and pursue it to the letter. Despite being in pursuance of her lover, he is also committed to fight Méléagant in his demonstration of fighting skills and heroism. He poses the challenge to Méléagant who accused him of being adulterous; he was not cowed by his attempts to frustrate his love for Guinevere. Though at some point he is captured and sent to prison, his heroism was evident through his ability to convince the captors to have him join a fighting contest on the assurance that he will be back. In joining the fight with Méléagant, he follows what his lover, Guinevere ordered him. His chivalry is demonstrated in his ability to lose when Guinevere requests him to lose and to win the fight against Méléagant when he is asked to win. Finally, he emerged successful and many loved him, “those who were gladdest at his lot removed the arms of Lancelot and bore him off the greatest joy” (p. 196) There is a clear depiction of honor by Lancelot as one of the major aspects of the chivalry way of doing things. The knighthood was to abide in honor as a chivalry requirement. Lancelot is seen to depict honor throughout the poem though at one point his passion makes him veer off; this occurs when the dwarf tricks him to ride in their cart. However, the consequences of riding give an ultimate honor to him. He is able to abide with the knighthood requirements of treating women well by being good to Guinevere as he abided with his requests in the ultimate fight with Méléagant. In another demonstration of honor, Lancelot is given an opportunity by his captors to go and fight and does the honors to come back after the fight, which was a success in itself. Abiding by his father’s pleas not to fight Méléagant after the accusations of adultery is a clear demonstration of honor. Despite abiding by the chivalry requirements of honor, a dwarf tricks Lancelot a second time hence sending him to prison. This is an aspect of dishonor for a soldier and a member of the knighthood to be sent to prison. Despite his commitment, passion, and heroism, Lancelot is revealed as an individual that has mercy on others. According to Chrétien’s thoughts, mercy is a key aspect that characterizes rivalry. In advancing this argument, he depicts Lancelot as person that had mercy when it mattered. In comparison to Méléagant, Lancelot gave individuals, including his enemies second chances, which reveals him as a true hero. Though he overcame Méléagant he did not humiliate him, While Lancelot voiced no threats, the power of blows drove Méléagant towards the tower from where the queen had come to lean” (p.104).His virtue of mercy towards others coupled with his desire to achieve his objectives made him to act in a way that provided less hurt to others. In essence, he emerges as an ultimate knight; he demonstrates humane aspects of action while still in pursuit of her lover. Lancelot’s pursuance of a courtly love reveals him as an ultimate knight. Chrétien presents Lancelot in a very spectacular way as the main character in the poem. Though he does not mention his name at the beginning, the reader is capable of relating with courtly love attributes. It is clear from the text that the love by Lancelot is not any casual; it is accompanied by passion and a desire to achieve a set target. Lancelot risks his life, and his reputation in an endeavor to have Guinevere back. People kept on wondering, “Is this man a convicted thief, a murderer, a man defeated in legal combat?” (p.12). In addition, he also subjected two horses to death in his quest to pursue Guinevere. “He mounted and began to ride, the charger closest to his side; immediately he forged ahead. His cast off charger fell down dead. He’d ridden it at such a length, he overstrained and taxed its strength” (p. 9). These incidences point at the consequences of courtly love for the queen. Lancelot is ready to protect Guinevere and her reputation by all means. He even dares Méléagant for a fight in order to protect his lover’s name. Though they do not fight , Lancelot’s commitment is seen, this is demonstrated by his willingness to embark on the fight a year later even after he find himself in the prison. He was able to convince his captors to allow him attend to the fight. To demonstrate her passion towards the queen he is able to adhere to her instructions on losing and winning the fight. Ultimately, he emerges as the winner in the contest. As a result of his ultimate success despite his less application of reason, Lancelot reveals himself as the ultimate knight. In conclusion, Lancelot is clearly revealed as an ultimate knight by Chrétien based on his successes and passion. Despite him suffering a few setbacks and encountering several obstacles on the way, Lancelot’s passion and drive pays off. He is able to pursue her lover, Guinevere with much patience and ends up being successful. He makes sacrifices that leaves his life and reputation on the balance but ultimately succeeds in his endeavors. His chivalrous character of preserving honor falls on both positive and negative ends while he clearly demonstrates love and mercy. Despite his success based o passion, Lancelot is perceived as a virtuous individual. Works Cited Chrétien de Troyes. Lancelot, or the knight of the cart. Athens and London: The university of Georgia Press. 1990. Read More