Themes in The Death of King Arthur

This study will examine the relationship between trust and deception in The Death of King Arthur. In fact, trust and deception are the central themes in the story of King Arthur's death, which is more accurately the story of the moral and spiritual growth of Lancelot, Arthur's primary knight. The central trust in the story is Arthur's trust toward Lancelot as knight and friend, while the major deception is Lancelot's betrayal of the King's trust through the knight's affair with the King's wife, Queen Guinevere. This betrayal plays an important part in the eventual fall of Arthur, but it also leads to the spiritual and moral awakening of Lancelot himself. In fact, all of the main characters undergo moral development in the course of their shared ordeal, but Lancelot advances more than the others because he simply has the furthest to go because of the grievous nature of his betrayal of the king.

Although the romance between Lancelot and Guinevere plays an important role in the story, its importance has to do with its moral and spiritual ramifications. The physical battles comprise a fair amount of the story, but the true struggle takes place in the minds, hearts and souls of Lancelot and the King and Queen. It is telling that the Quest itself is over, almost as if the unknown author were suggesting that that Quest was symbolic preparation for the struggle to come involving the trust of the King and the betrayal of that trust by his knight and his wife. The struggle has shift

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e Death of King Arthur is not simply the story of deception and destroyed trust. It is also the story of the lessons learned by suffering, by sin, and it is the story of the redemption which can come on the heels of deception and suffering. It is a human story in that sense, for no true wisdom, compassion or spiritual and moral awakening can come without sin, mistakes, bad choices, and the ensuing suffering to oneself and others. Lancelot is an excellent knight and a good man--but he is flawed human being, his fatal flaw being his yielding to his desire for another man's wife, and not only another man's wife, but the wife of his mentor, his leader, his king, and his friend. As good as he is, he is not perfect, and his deception with the queen (along with his deception in battle) plays a central role in the fall of the king and many others. Lancelot is at the center of the story precisely because he is a thorough blend of vice and virtue. The old king, in contrast, seems an easily deceived invalid, even indifferent at times. After all, when first informed of the deception of the adultery, he first denies that it can be, then says he can do nothing even if it is true, asking Agravain. "What do you want me to do about it?" (26).

Category: Literature - T