Chivalry In Sir Thomas Malory's Knights Of The Round Table

Words: 658
Pages: 3
Open Document
In the French and English literature of the Middle Ages, the meaning of chivalry was quite a bit more specific than the present understanding of polite courtesy. Chivalry, in this context, refers to a general code of conduct expected of knights, which includes values such as loyalty, courage, honesty, and an overall responsibility to do right by one’s lord and fellow knights. Typically, the go-to mental image for classic chivalrous behavior is that of King Arthur and his famed Knights of the Round Table. Thus, it should be no surprise that Sir Thomas Malory’s work Morte D’Arthur, in which Malory gives an account of the events leading up to King Arthur’s death, contains several examples of traditional chivalry. The particular excerpt of Mort D’Arthur in question begins with a series of events caused by Sir Lancelot’s …show more content…
Here, chivalry dictates that Arthur must save his honor by confronting Lancelot and, though it obviously pains him, he intends to do just that. Along the way to find Lancelot, King Arthur meets his death at the hands of Sir Mordred. After this, Lancelot, who by all accounts should feel at odds with Arthur, is so deeply grieved at the loss of his lord that he goes into seclusion and allows himself to waste away until he, too, passes from the earthly realm. Obviously, it is difficult to pin down merely a few examples of chivalry in Morte D’Arthur because the code permeates the story and manifests itself in nearly every action taken by Arthur and his knights. Though at times one man’s idea of chivalry may seem to oppose another’s, each central character is striving to uphold the code as he sees fit in a given
Show More

Related Documents: Chivalry In Sir Thomas Malory's Knights Of The Round Table

Folk-Tale Formula

becoming a knight). This hero struggles to overcome obstacles, and through a series of successes and defeats, returns as a person of significance, falls in love and “lives happily ever after.” This narrative pattern is seen frequently in the medieval times, when knights did exist and young boys all dreamed of becoming a proud, shining knight. The legend of King Arthur further expanded on that pattern, that narrative skeleton, through the introduction of the Knights of the Round Table. The Knights of the…

Words 3266 - Pages 14

Book Report/Character Analysis on the Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights by John Steinbeck Essay

------------------------------------------------- The Acts of King Arthur and His ------------------------------------------------- Noble Knights ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- By John Steinbeck ------------------------------------------------- Part One: Plot The first section of the book is entitled Merlin. The story begins by telling how Arthur came to be born and then flows into…

Words 5465 - Pages 22