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King Arthur Chivalry Analysis

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Sir Lancelot once declared, “No, it is not foolish, for once a person acts shamefully, he can never recover his honor.” (438) As the quote indicates, protecting one’s honour of his role was quite critical to the social structure in the novel written by Homer, King Arthur. The king’s close ties with the knights were only made possible because of the men’s act of chivalry, loyalty, and respect of individual value. Even hints of democratic-like conventions were demonstrated throughout the myth. Each knight’s view of mankind, the way one regarded another beyond their power and ranking was how the courteous society was formed. A knight’s chivalry was what lead them to be respected as they were. An act of chivalry is described as the qualifications …show more content…

Since young, Arthur showed admiration of his brother’s abilities in combat and appreciated his foster family for their comfort and guidance. When he declared as the king of Britain, he receives approval from all his subjects and proves himself right on being a born leader by treating each one with generosity and in sometimes, strictness. But above all else, the Round Table is the ultimate example of recognition of individuality. As a gift from Sir Leodegrance, Arthur’s father-in-law, the table presented an unique concept: “whenever the knights meet, their thrones, their services, and their relationship to one another will be equal”. (433) The culture of only the king speaking his opinion shifted so all people seated at the table had equal say in matters. Because of Arthur’s method of governing, the knights were able to speak of their thoughts and conclusively feel their significance in taking part of their role in society. As was previously stated, the knights’ sentiment of one another was how the civil nation of Britain formed. Dignity of one’s position in the social structure and recognition of the others’ brought the empire to unity. With the blindfold of status individual’s power and wealth was left unseen when speaking of his opinion, eventually directing Arthur, the boy who once started as a squire, to become a legendary British leader. Till his death, the epic

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The code of Chivalry stated that you had to promise to do no wicked deed, to be loyal to the king, to give mercy to those asking it, always to be courteous and helpful to ladies, and to fight in no wrongful quarrel for worldly gain, upon pain of death or forfeiture of knighthood and King Arthur’s

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The knights had a code they lived by. Honor, bravery, chivalry, and courtesy. This code was called knightly chivalry. The monarchy also brought the artisan class and changed the attitude toward the church and religion.

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In “The Tale of Sir Launcelot du Lake”, the setting and its tone are two of the many literary elements that develops the theme of moral courage. Sir Launcelot’s tale takes place in a medieval setting, which was complete with loyal knights at the time who were devoted to do nothing more than help and serve their kings such as King Arthur for example. The amount of loyal knights including Sir Launcelot that are depicted in the setting shows plenty of moral courage. In a quote that appears before the tale begins, it describes the loyalty of King Arthur’s knights and how Sir Launcelot du Lake was one of the most loyal by saying, “Of all the knights one was supreme.” (P. 652)

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In Nicholls essay, The Testing of Courtesy at Camelot and Hautdesert, the author argues that courtesy serves to mask the true desire for violence in King Arthur’s court. “ Politeness is a veneer over the violence latent in human affairs and courtesy…[it] acts as a restraining

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During the Medieval times chivalry was one of the most important characteristics a knight could display. Chivalry was viewed as a moral obligation that involved bravery, honor, respect, and gallantry. Knights were expected to uphold this code or face social consequences for any infractions, with punishments ranging from humiliation to termination of their knighthood. “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” presents the struggles knights faced with honoring the chivalrous code at all times. Sir Gawain, while imperfect, exhibits qualities expected of knights and embodies the internal struggle between honoring the chivalrous code and giving into selfish desires.

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Arthur demonstrates the qualities of a good leader in Morte d’ Arthur. But not all men can be as strong as Arthur, like Sir Kay and the nobles that are single minded. Sir Thomas made a perfect knight and king in Morte d’ Arthur even though men cannot show these characteristic in that pure form. “And originally knights had few of these qualities” (themiddleages.net). This is where Sir Thomas’s perspective becomes important, his story is an idealized version of a hero and how those times were.

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The lines 1550-1553 from the Pearl poets epic Sir Gawain and the Green Knight epitomizes two of the most important virtues of a noble knight, and Sir Gawain, the man the story follows, defines what is a true knight. He holds a place next to King Arthur and the queen as well as exemplifying two of a knights most important virtues. The first being chastity and the second being courteousness, both however, are very much entwined in this tale. Throughout this epic and many other Arthurian legends praised these traits in the knight and as we shall see, Sir Gawain although still very much human, is a master of both. The virtue of chastity is extremely important in Arthurian legend and we can see this from examining Gawain’s shield.

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Sir Thomas Malory’s world was falling apart. He, a 15th century knight, had been involved in a war, accused of crimes, jailed, shunned, and pardoned. Dutifully, he switched sides on the war, following his earl. During this tumultuous time, Malory collected all the random stories of King Arthur into one somewhat cohesive novel. Since he was writing the stories 1000 years after they took place, there are some cultural anachronisms, but Malory was the first person to successfully join all the loose ends of the stories that had been handed down for generations.

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Book two does much to describe how and why a courtier should act honorably and with humility in all that they do. The perfect courtier must act in a way that honors his position and his prince, to act humbly and virtuously, which can only be described as acting honorably. Book two reestablishes the need for physical prowess, intellectual ability, and proficiency in speaking, but adds more to the overall makeup of a courtier. The second day of discussion adds that a courtier needs to be able to recognize when they are acting in bad faith and know when they are serving a bad prince, and with this, they need to act with good judgment and good character to best serve in their position, even if that means acting against a bad prince. This book highlights the need for a courtier to act in ways that serve their prince, but also do what is right for the masses.

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King Arthur is one of the best kings that has ruled over Britain, throughout all of history. Arthur ruled with honor, loyalty, and chivalry, which made him a great king. Many lessons that he learned on his journeys helped him to become the person that he is. Arthur’s journey becoming king can be seen in the novel The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White, and is very similar to Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey.

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Chivalry is defined as the medieval knightly system with its religious, moral, and social code. The tale of Morte d’Arthur shows the Code of Chivalry when the Knights of the Round Table display courage or bravery, wisdom of morals, and loyalty to their king. To begin with, the knights in Morte d’Arthur present a courageous look in multiple aspects of the story to prove they abide by the Code of Chivalry. These knights were

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Although Sir Gawain does not want to take the Green Knight’s challenge, he honorable takes the place of King Arthur and lies about his worth. The Green Knight arrives carrying an axe and holly, symbolizing peace and war, but tells them that he “travel[s] in peace and seek[s] no trouble” (12). Despite saying that he wants no trouble, he proposes a game involves one strike with his axe by whoever is brave enough for another done by him a year later. The court is baffled by his request, and when no one speaks up to take the Green Knights challenge, he ridicules them by conveying that “all the pageantry and power of the Round Table made nothing by the words of one man” (13). After the Green Knight finishes mocking the Knights of the Round Table, Arthur boldly takes the challenge until Sir Gawain politely requested to take his place.

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From the moment someone says their first word to the day they start school, he or she is expected to be successful. Now imagine if all the hard work paid off to become well known in a country’s history. Attaining the luxurious life of fame and fortune as guardian of a kingdom was not easy, however. Knights were faced with a lifetime of grueling work. In order to become a medieval knight one first needed to learn the code of chivalry before enduring rigorous training as a Page and advancing as a Squire.

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In the Medieval British legend King Arthur three character archetypes are prominent; the Hero, the Mentor, and the Villain. These archetypes are universal, found in myths from around the world. One ubiquitous archetype that is present in King Arthur

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The Arthurian Code of Chivalry is composed of four major aspects: nobility, humility, bravery, and obedience. Throughout the tales of King Arthur, it is evident that in order to be a knight you must display nobelity. Arthur said “I

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