Le Morte D Arthur And Lancelot Analysis

Le Morte d’Arthur and “Lancelot” tell a story about the same character, Lancelot, however they differ greatly because of the time period they were written in. One example of this is seen in comparing Lancelot’s story in Le Morte d’Arthur, written by Thomas Malory and “Lancelot” written by Edwin Arlington Robinson. Le Morte d’Arthur was written by Thomas Malory around 1485 and is one of the first publications that explains the Arthurian character Lancelot. Malory describes how Lancelot is the greatest knight in Camelot, but he also tells of Lancelot’s darker side, his affair with Queen Guinevere. Throughout the book Lancelot is displayed as the perfect knight. The book describes how Lancelot is a master swordsman and for that reason it is said that he is King Arthur’s

Lancelot is considered by everyone in Camelot to be the leader of the Round Table. To back up the claims that Malory makes about Lancelot he gives many examples of his heroic acts and achievements. For example Malory describes tournaments that would be held where knights would battle to the death. Describing Lancelot in theses events Malory says “...Sir Launcelot du Lake, for in all tournaments and jousts and deeds of arms, both for life and death, he passed all other knights” ( Malory 175). Reaffirming the aforementioned idea that Lancelot is the greatest knight in Camelot. The relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere is mentioned in the writing; however, it is only briefly discussed potentially meaning that Malory did not want to tarnish Lancelot’s reputation. Throughout Malory describing what happened between Lancelot and Guinevere it seems like Malory is defending Lancelot’s actions. A possible reason that Malory does this is to protect Lancelot’s image