A Different View of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere
King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table have been the subjects of countless works of literature for hundreds of years. In many of these tales King Arthur is accompanied by his lovely wife, Guinevere. Not all of the Arthurian romances depict King Arthur and Queen Guinevere in the positive light that most people have become accustomed to. Thomas Chestre’s Sir Launfal is one of these types of tales. This poem expresses different views on the normally idolized characters of Arthur and Guinevere while at the same time offering a comment on how people felt about the kingship in the 14th century.
King Arthur is normally portrayed as a leader who is not easily manipulated but this is not the case in Sir Launfal. A trait of a good king that Arthur usually possesses is that he is not easily influenced. Unfortunately, this is not so with the Arthur in this tale. He is easily turned against Launfal by Queen Guinevere when she......
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Approximate Word Count: 1403
Approximate Pages: 6 (260 words per double-spaced page) |