Its not cool to be wounded

I felt that the purpose of this story was to emphasis the heroics and masculinity of Lancelot. To explain, there are several times in this story in which Lancelot is fighting and almost bleeding to death during battle. For example, the story says that "...if I had earned your praise, I have earned it hardly, for I am so wounded that I doubt I shall live...I am more in need of repose than honor..." (461). This is meant to show how brave and tough he is so that the readers can get more behind the idea of him. They also added a sprinkle of humbleness for good measure. However, while much of this story is trying to get the reader to enjoy the presence of him, they make some odd creative choices at times. Lancelot refuses to love Guinevere and also kind of kills her. I believe this is supposed to be an odd way of showing that Lancelot is cool since it adds a layer of tragedy and complexity to him.

Lancelot at some points in the story

does truth have irony?

Why did seeing the truth kill the Lady of Shalott faster than loneliness?

How much mirror is too much mirror?

This poem left me with lots of questions surrounding her curse and her situation. The line is very grey with how she is allowed to look down on Camelot. She glances and sees different reflections out of the corner of her eye in the mirror. Would it break the curse if she blatantly used the mirror to stare down over the land? Lots of other questions remain as well. How did she receive the curse originally? How did she find out that she had the curse? Who decided that it was in her best interest to live in a tower all her life? Still, the poem was very intriguing to me. It was different to anything else we have read thus far because Lady of Shalott has a very artistic mind and the majority of the poem we as readers are tapped into this mind. It really makes me put myself into her shoes and think about what life would be like if I was to only be in one place, and to not be able to look at the only outside world I physically can.

Seriously? He Stood There, Nothing Else

James DeProspero

English 269

Professor MB

Seriously? He Stood There, Nothing Else

            I feel...like this story could’ve never taken place if one certain person had maybe seen another human being before in her life. Let me get this straight, the Fair Maid of Astolat would rather die than not have Sir Lancelot as her husband/paramour? To me, this makes no sense whatsoever. The two had barely even spoken before she was already announcing her love for him. Never mind the fact that after Lancelot stayed with her, he went on to physically own every Knight of the Round Table on the battlefield, she’s just going to pull a Juliet and announcer her love for him on the spot. Moving on, how could one possibly blame Lancelot as the cause of her death you may ask. One might say it’s because he didn’t marry her, or that he chose not to be her paramour: “unless you can take me for your wife or paramour, all joy must vanish from my life!” (469) Then you might wonder, like me, why he must pledge the rest of his life with this girl for her to decide she wants to live. Apparently, that’s the way this story wanted to be written, a twenty-page Rom-Com that doesn’t give the events of Arthur’s court or the love triangle the light of day. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

mirror mirror on the wall...

To me, the most interesting aspect of the poem The Lady of Shallot is the mirror itself, rather than the reflections the Lady saw in said mirror. After reading through the poem a couple times, I looked further into what types symbolism mirrors hold, and the general consensus is that mirrors represent awareness, truth, and wisdom. To me, in the context of this poem, this symbolism is extremely interesting. For the Lady's mirror to have shown her Lancelot is to make her aware of the apparent goings on of the world outside her little bubble, but there is no way for her to know the truth behind those events happening around her. So the mirror is showing her things that are certainly happening outside her reality, yet at the same time, the Lady is unable to verify if those things are actually true. And also, for the mirror to be the reason she made a decision that could be seen as "unwise" is ironic as well.

I don't know if this really makes much sense, but it doesn't make much sense to me either. I'm interested to see what others are thinking.

Lancelot Does not Care

When we first started reading stories about Lancelot I thought they were pretty cool and that Lancelot was going to be an awesome addition to the Round Table, I was wrong. This guy is awful. In Le Morte d'Arthur he was total jerk to Elaine. Lancelot bombarded this family and totally ruined their lives. They did so much for him only to leave them and have Elaine die of a broken heart. Elaine was a maiden that would have done anything for Lancelot, instead Lancelot is focused on the one woman he absolutely cannot be with. That is just messed up, Guinevere is just leading him on for no reason and we just constantly read about their toxic actions. It does not take much to look past one's self, but with Lancelot that seems impossible. However, the most disturbing part of this story is the end after they find out Elaine had died. Everything went back to normal and no one seemed to care that this woman had died. It was even said in the story that "she is not the first young noblewoman to break her heart over" Lancelot (467). This simple quote alluded to the fact that there had been other deaths due to Lancelot's reckless behavior. To give Lancelot some credit he never lied to her, he told her the truth that he did not want to marry her. Regardless, Lancelot obviously knows his effect on people and always uses it to his advantage by destroying their lives in the process. 

 

I'm over this s***

                 I swear to GOD, I am so over Lancelot and Guinevere. Reading this a second time made me even more frustrated. First of all, why the hell would fighting against Arthur help Lancelot and Guinevere in their pursuit to hang out together unnoticed?? So many decisions in these stories seem so so arbitrary that it is actually infuriating. Second of all, I am sick of hearing about how great, handsome, competent, and valiant Lancelot is. He is a shitty person and the fact that I am constantly having to read these long descriptions of his great qualities is so maddening. Like, this whole story was just about how Lancelot is "the one who got away", and he literally caused the DEATH of Elaine, and what was the point of all of this? So Guinevere could feel more confident in his love for her???? And Guinevere sucks too! Aside from the fact that she cheats on her husband, she is also impulsively emotional, unstable, and bitterly jealous. Lancelot even calls her out: "Madame, this is not the first time your anger has been ill-founded" (Le Morte D'Arthur 472)

        Why did people at the time like reading stories about this? Honestly, these two characters are obviously the focal point of attention for readers at the time, but they are immoral. Their actions do not align with their extensively beautiful descriptions. Why were people attracted to stories about them then? I don't know, but I like to think that people nowadays would not find themselves as engrossed with the stories of these two. Cuz I'm #overit

Who really is Launcelot?

Why is it so important for Launcelot to keep his identity hidden?

Sir Lancelot Holmes

"My fair lady, I have never worn a token at a tournament! You ask me to do what I have not done for anyone before.  But as he spoke, it occurred to Sir Launcelot that because he had never been known to wear a token, this would be the best possible means of insuring his disguise" (Cannon, 459).

I understand that the only reason Lancelot accepted the token was so that the other knights would not recognize him, but I am confused as to why he wants to be disguised in the first place.  He is a well known and respected knight, so he does not need to gain more respect from others by beating them without them knowing who he is.  I also found it interesting how the author spelled his name differently than I am used to seeing it.

Launcelot Has An Idea

"My fair lady, I have never worn a token at a tournament! You ask me to do what I have not done for anyone before!" Sir Launcelot (Cannon, 458)

When the Fair Maid of Astalot asks Launcelot to wear her token, Launcelot realizes she has given him the perfect way to hide his identity in the middle of denying her request.

(note: I spent way too long making this dumb meme)

A wedding and a Funeral

Do you think the fact the Lady of Shalott saw a wedding and funeral through her mirror was symbolic of her falling in love with Lancelot and dying because she activated her curse? Why do you think she was cursed in the first place?

Why take the fight?

"My good cousin, you make too much of it! I have only my own pride to thank for my wound, for had I disclosed myself to you, it would never had happened. But do not worry; I shall soon recover, so now let us talk of other matters." - Sir Launcelot (Cannon,466)

Sir Bors finds Launcelot to apologize for wounding him in the tournament, but Launcelot does not blame Bors, he blames himself for even joining the tournament. This has me thinking why Launcelot fought in the first place. Throughout the whole story, the other knights are praising the capabilities of Launcelot. What was his intent behind joining the tournament? Was he trying to prove something?

Love Kills

After finishing this week’s reading, I automatically connected the theme to the larger theme of love. Love is an incredibly confusing concept, especially back then. I felt that the theme of love in this particular reading was incorporated into each scene. In my opinion, it seemed as though Elaine and Lancelot were not on the same page. While he did accept her token, she believed that he was accepting her as his lover. Elaine seemed like she ignored the fact that Lancelot never intended to be married, yet she kept loving him as her own, which lead to heartbreak. It also didn’t help that all of the knights around them expressed how the love between Elaine and Lancelot was strong.

I found it super interesting how the theme of love was directly connected to the death of Elaine, the Maid of Astolat. The intensity of her love for him lead her to allow heartbreak to kill her. That absolutely blows my mind! But, like in Romeo and Juliet, the love back then was viewed as so strong that if said couple cannot be together, that death was the solution. In the end, I feel bad for Lancelot, because while he did share feelings for Elaine, he simply did not intend on ever marrying. Unfortunately, he is the reason for the death of Elaine.

Would you have waited?

In the poem, the Lady of Shallot waits until she sees Lancelot to finally leave and test her curse. Since she did not know what her curse was would you have waited that long before leaving? Would you have left for someone that is most likely the most sought after man or would you have gone for someone that was more attainable? Why do you think she choose that time to finally leave?

Master of Disguise

In the Fair Maid of Astolat I have noticed themes that I have seen in other works. The first is the idea of disguising oneself. Lancelot wishes to compete in the tournament but not be recognized as he tells Queen Guinevere, “I shall fight in disguise and against the king” (Malory 458). Other stories we have read so far in the class have also focused on the idea of disguising oneself. A few of the stories told of the time Uther Pendragon, Arthur’s father, had Merlin cast a spell on him so that he looked like the Duke of Cornwall. Uther Pendragon did this because he loved the Duke’s wife, Igraine. Similar to disguising oneself, Lancelot once again refuses to tell people his name. People asked him countless times what his name was, and he refused to tell them. In the first story that we met Lancelot, Lancelot, or The Knight of The Cart by Chrétien de Troyes, he also refused to say what his name was. I feel like Lancelot really embodies the concept of anonymity. Time and time again in different stories Lancelot is unknown by name or in the cast of The Fair Maid of Astolat he is completely disguised.

So, Ya'll Didn't Recognize Lancelot?

I have several questions surrounding this reading, but there thing in this story that simply makes no sense. How in the world did Arthur and the rest of the Knights fail to recognize Lancelot?!
Lancelot disguised himself with different armor, a new shield, and with a red token that he received from Elaine. As long as he was silent, and stayed out of a fight, he wouldn't be recognized. But when he and Lavayne went into the tournament, King Arthur and the rest of the Knights of the Round Table somehow failed to pick up on Lancelot's fighting style. Even when He was asked who he was, no one was able to the voice as Lancelot's. That makes no sense at all.

So y'all just gonna let Lancelot kill a woman?

Bruh. Okay, so are we just going to completely ignore the fact that Lancelot basically killed a woman? I thought he was better than that. Maybe I feel a bit personally victimized because Lancelot was my favorite, and he killed a woman named Elaine which hits just a little too close to home. But come. on. First of all, Lancelot is against King Arthur? I was starting to think that this was supposed to be before all of the other stories we have read about Lancelot, as at the end the author says "It was thought that at the next Pentecost he would be made a knight of the Round Table" (pg. 472). But he is still romantically involved with Queen Guinevere, whom we thought he met while being part of Arthur's court? More importantly, why did Lancelot not even attempt to try to love Elaine? Especially if she was giving him the most love and care a man could have ever received (pg. 467). And he still wasn't about it? THEN forgave Guinevere for being rude? How could Lancelot be so stupid and yet so chivalrous at the same time? I just want to know why he was like this. I need answers.

What's in a Name?

In both "Knight of the Cart" and "Lady of Astolat," there is an element of namelessness. Why is it that Lancelot does not want to reveal his name? Is it because, according to Sir Gawain, he is "the greatest knight living" (464), and he has an ego? Or, does he want to hide his "celebrity status," as seems to be his reason for wearing Elaine's token (459)?