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Theme Of Chivalry In King Arthur

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Many points of chivalry are depicted in many different ways within the story of “Arthur.” Chivalry is seen in many cultures, and some are more strict than others. A few aspects, particularly shown by knights, is the code of honor, respect, courage, dignity, loyalty, and truthfulness. Among the other forms of chivalry, many knights showed loyalty and dignity as their main point. Also, within the story, courage and truthfulness were more examples of the way knights showed chivalry. Lastly, and possibly the most important aspects of chivalry that were shown within the story, were honor and respect. The ability of a knight, to encompass every one of these points means that he is a holy and good knight. As stated by Tamora Pierce in her book, …show more content…

During the battle between Mordred and Arthur, it is said that many knights died during their service. As stated within the story, “And never since was there never seen a more dolefuller battle in no Christian land, for there was but a rushing and riding, lunging and striking….and many a deadly stroke…..Then was King Arthur wood-wroth out of measure when he saw his people so slain from him. And so he looked about him, and could see no more of all his host and good knights left no more on-live, but two knights.” It is quoted previously, that most men died, except for two. This, in itself, shows the level of loyalty that the knights had for their king, and that they would fight, and die for them at any given point in time. Also, the knights showed dignity through various acts, such as fighting and dying for their king, and also by fighting for the name of the queen. Within Aristotle’s work known as, Ethics, he states, “The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances.” Aristotle believed that a man should be able to admit his accidents with dignity and grace, meaning that he should live to a simpler form of chivalry in respect to the ability to be humble and honest in his mistakes. Also, the ability of a knight to be truthful and honest is another key aspect to the code of …show more content…

Respect has always been of large importance within every nation and country, however, it seems as though that in the time of King Arthur, respect became one of the most important showings of chivalry within knighthood. As explicated within the story, “Then Sir Bedivere took the King upon his back and so went with him to that water’s side, and when they were at the water’s side, even fast by the bank floated a little barge with many fair ladies in it.” This quotation exemplifies exactly how much respect is shown for King Arthur by his knights. He is wounded and is carried to the lake’s edge on the back of his knight. This act of humility and respect shown by Sir Bedivere is one that stands out as one of the most exemplary acts of chivalry within the entire story. Knighthood surrounds years of preparation and training, and with it, knowledge and wisdom comes; not just about material knowledge, but about common knowledge that will help a knight rise in the ranks. Being an honest, true, courageous, and respectful knight brings honor and respect back to the

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Chivalry was a code where knights would vow to do no wrong, be loyal to the King, to give mercy to those who ask for it, and to be courteous and helpful to women (Doc E). Knights beliefs were also very religion centered, as shown in The Son of Roland “God, I acknowledge my guilt and I beg for Thy mercy for all the sins, greater and lesser, which I have committed from the hour my birth until this day … Angels descend out of heaven and come to him” (Doc

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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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In the article “Chivalry,” it states that the chief chivalric virtues were piety, honor, valor, courtesy, chastity, and loyalty (3). In the book, King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, we meet a knight named Sir Launcelot. Sir Launcelot is thought to be one of the greatest knights in the world. However, Sir Launcelot may have been honorable, but he was not loyal and chaste.

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(Document E). Parallel to this, knights follow a code called, ‘The Code of Chivalry’. In this code, the knight has to be loyal to the king, give mercy to all and live a well-rounded life all together. Meaning, he must be kind and respectful to ladies and must serve his king with a great deal of loyalty. Breaking this code was a huge disgrace to any knight.

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The film keeps the fantastical elements of the King Arthur mythos and, above all else, puts the emphasis on the classical elements of chivalry while still including some of the more contemporary elements as well. The film does make Perceval a character who is able to display chivalrous qualities by becoming a knight through display of courage and loyalty to Sir Lancelot when he is late for a duel to defend Queen Guinevere's honor. Perceval's dubbing as a knight is highly unlikely because he had no noble blood and he did not demonstrate courage in battle, but it did demonstrate his loyalty and courage to Lancelot to the King, Queen, and Lancelot which are defining traits of classical chivalry. The rest of the film, however, does a good job of presenting a more realistic depiction of how chivalry as an ideal and how it was challenged in the Middle Ages. Each knight is loyal, courageous, battle tested by participating in the formation and eventual downfall of Camelot, aristocratic with the exception of Perceval, and dedicated to the quests they were given to the point of sacrificing their lives during the quest for the Holy Grail and the final battle against Mordred.

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The ideals of Christian morality and knightly qualities are represented by Gawain’s gold, star-shaped pentangle. The five knightly virtues that Sir Gawain expresses are: generosity, chastity, friendship, piety, and courtesy. From the beginning of the poem, Sir Gawain portrays his generosity by agreeing to cut the Green Knight’s head with an axe. He makes this decision after King Arthur fails to do so (Cathell, 2014).

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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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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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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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559 Words | 3 Pages

Chivalry is a code of conduct associated with the medieval institution of knighthood which developed between 1170 and 1220. Between this time period many authors wrote about knights and warriors and how they represented the values of being loyal, courageous and their willingness to give one’s life for another or in other words being a chivalrous warrior. Some examples of these tales are Beowulf and Le Morte d’Arthur. Beowulf and Wiglaf from Beowulf and King Arthur from Le Morte d’Arthur each have two examples of them reflecting the values of being a chivalrous warrior.

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122 Words | 1 Pages

As from the Sir Gawain and The Green Knight story, Sir Gawain showed the real definition of fight with honor. I find that to be very courageous. The legend of King Arthur also showed many chivalrous acts. I’m sure there are many more movies or books that have also shown many chivalrous acts. But for now I’ll tell you about how I view my top three chivalry rules.

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In medieval times, chivalry was something that many men lived up to. If a man lived up to the expectations of chivalry he was said to be loyal, brave and courageous. For some it was difficult to follow certain codes especially when it came to romance, an example: Sir Lancelot in the movie “First Knight.” Medieval romance was taken seriously during its time. Not only did men/knights have to follow rules and codes about war, but also about romance.

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One thing that struck me as I read The Death of King Arthur was how the tradition of honor superseded reason, sense, and even national stability. In the beginning of the story this phenomenon is demonstrated by Arthur’s decision to have Guinevere burnt, even though it meant that the nation and roundtable would be broken by the alienation of Sir Lancelot and his kith and kin. Honor dictated that an unfaithful queen should be burn, so she was burnt, despite the wise advice of moderation given by Sir Gawain. Another intriguing aspect of this tale is the fraternity of knighthood.

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1788 Words | 8 Pages

The concept of Chivalry has baffled countless medieval historians throughout the years. Chivalry was supposedly a code that knights and nobles lived their lives by. Similarly to other social structures that were in place in the past historians have struggled to draw conclusions as to the extent to which people lived according to chivalric principles. Sir Walter Scott believed that knights aspired to the code of chivalry, but that in the real world the code was impossible to live according to such a code. This conclusion gives a clear picture of chivalry.

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Chivalry was also seen in the short story From Morte D’Arthur. Chivalry is shown in From Morte D’Arthur by the loyalty that Sir Lancelot shows King Arthur. Sir Lancelot battles Sir Gawain for King Arthur as he is the favorite knight of King Arthur. “Here Lancelot is Arthur 's favorite, although he does kill Gawain 's brothers and commits adultery with the queen. And the final tragedy is that eventually Arthur and Lancelot end up battling each other as Camelot tears itself apart”(Adams).

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