Summary:
The third installment of The Once and Future King, by T. H. White, is almost exclusively centered upon Sir Lancelot Dulac, and at this time period, the best knight in the world. Physically, Sir Lancelot is an ugly man. His ugliness affects him greatly through life, making him feel unworthy and inadequate. Lancelot possesses many conflicting characteristics.
The third installment of The Once and Future King, by T. H. White, is almost exclusively centered upon Sir Lancelot Dulac, and at this time period, the best knight in the world. Physically, Sir Lancelot is an ugly man. His ugliness affects him greatly through life, making him feel unworthy and inadequate. Lancelot possesses many conflicting characteristics, which adds to his complexity. He is religious, yet lustful, having an affair with Guenever, his best friend and king's wife. He is hideous, yet exalted; ambitious yet self-loathing; meek yet violent, leading him to be Arthur's best friend and betrayer. Many specific qualities make Sir Lancelot Dulac who he is, but no quality attributes to his persona greater than his passion. The protagonist of "The Ill Made Knight" is a man of passion, and this passion for his king, for his mistress, and for his countrymen shapes this section of the book.
Sir Lancelot is steadfastly faithful to and passionate for those who love him, especially to his best friend and king, Arthur. They meet when Lancelot is at a very young age, and instantly Arthur becomes his hero. Lancelot spends much of his youth training to become the best knight the world has ever seen, relentlessly building his strength and working on swordsmanship. When he comes to the round table, his skills are clearly shown, and quickly he becomes infamous. Rising to the head of the table, as well as the best knight in the world, Arthur makes him commander of his armies. Lancelot fervently fights for his leader and best friend, doggedly defending him whenever necessary.
Lancelot loves Arthur very much, however, he begins to fall in love with someone else over the course of the section, and this person happens to be Arthur's wife, Guenever. He is driven by this infidelity to betray his incredible loyalty to his confidant and sovereign, causing major problems in the latter part of the story. Lancelot's passion for Guenever is shown in a part of "The Ill Made Knight" when Guenever accuses Lancelot of being unfaithful to her, and says that they can no longer be. Lancelot goes mad, jumps out the window, and disappears from society for three years. Lancelot relentlessly defends Guenever by fighting on her side when she was accused of any wrongdoings in the trial-by-battles common to the time especially in one part closer to the end. Guenever decides to host a dinner party, and knowing Gawaine is fond of fruit, especially apples and pears, Guenever goes out of her way to supply these. Other people know of Gawaine's weakness, and take advantage by poisoning the apples in an effort to kill him. When a knight named Patrick eats the apples and dies, Guenever is accused. As it says in "The Ill Made Knight", "Naturally it was Lancelot that rescued her [from the trial-by-battle]. Bors had managed to find him at an abbey, during his two days' absence, and now he came back in the nick of time to fight Sir Mador for the Queen. Nobody who knew him would expect him to do anything else, whether he had been sent away in disgrace or not..." After being most likely sent away disgracefully by Guenever, he comes back and fights for her, defending her as always.
Lancelot's passion for those he loves extends to his countrymen, who he safeguards and protects. The classic notion of the job of a knight is to rescue maidens and stop evildoers. This is exactly what Lancelot does; he patrols the countryside fighting and defeating tyrannical lords and men who mistreat and abuse people. He practices chivalry, the virtuous deeds expected of a knight. He is very faithful to this idea, for he supports anything that Arthur does, and this is Arthur's notion. Lancelot does a fair amount of protecting his people, often fighting dangerous battles against one or many strong and powerful bad-knights, but he always perseveres and helps the afflicted people. On one of his quests for the good of England, Lancelot finds himself fighting a knight by the name of Sir Carados, who is notorious for his cruelty wickedness. A fight ensues and Lancelot wins, killing the evil knight, preventing further abuse of the English people.
Passion is what defines Lancelot, more so than any of his other characteristics. The passion he has for his king leads him to spend an incredible amount of time isolated, honing his skills to achieve his ultimate goal- being the best knight in the world- which is achieved. He fights and defends for him, all because of his immense passion. Lancelot's passion for Guenever is even more so than for Arthur; he steadfastly defends her, even when it seems clear she is at fault, and causes the betrayal of his best friend. Lancelot is even passionate for the people of England, helping them in many ways, many times. Lancelot is passionate, but also many other things. His complexity creates a unique character that is regarded as one of the greatest heroes of all time.
This is the complete article, containing 837 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page).
