When Lancelot makes it across the sword bridge to help the
queen, she is excited at first, but she then refuses to see him. This is
because she saw that Lancelot hesitated before getting into the cart, and she
is mad that he actually thought about himself before deciding to continue on
with his journey to rescue her. In my opinion, I would have just been happy
that he came in the first place! Never mind his thoughts to give up. At least
he decided to come rather than leave you in the other kingdom, right? It takes
so much energy to be mad at someone you were excited to see, so I honestly just
do not see the point in being angry. She's just being over-dramatic.
Alright, alright... she gets over it eventually, and then,
she sleeps with him of all things! Where did that come from?! I mean, come on!
Make up your mind lady! First you are happy, then you are mad, and now, you are
in love with your husband's knight. This is all just a huge mess, and it breaks
and follows some of the rules of courtly love, which does not help with the
whole thing. Lancelot follows one of the courtly love rules (rule number
fourteen) when he decides to get in the cart because his thoughts of turning
back when the queen came to his mind. However, the queen broke rule number nine
when she refuses to see Lancelot and is mad at him because she then goes back and
falls all over him, madly in love.
I think that women are portrayed as over-dramatic far too often. I am not denying that we are over-dramatic, because we definitely can be, but so can men. My question is, why should the queen be so angry at Lancelot when he decided to come to her rescue despite the risk of losing his honor? I mean, what is the point/the big deal? So he hesitated. WHO CARES? IT WAS JUST FOR A SECOND!! Why can't the queen just be thankful he came in the first place?
I am a tad annoyed with her actions...can you tell? Sure it
is just a story, and it is meant to be entertaining, but is all that drama and
her little tantrum necessary? I think not.
Your last paragraph about women being portrayed as over dramatic far too often is sort of what I wrote our persuasive paper on! It's ridicuous isn't it? Not only are the women often portrayed as over dramatic beings but they are also portrayed as abusers of the power that they have. Just once it would be nice to read about a woman who holds some of the power in the relationship but does not abuse it against the man in the story.
ReplyDeleteWell, I think that the men in these stories are also portrayed as way over dramatic, just in a different way. In fact, I think that in a lot of stories about knights and honor and such, the men are actually MORE dramatic. But of course that could be because women don't often get a voice. The only woman who is over dramatic in this story is Guinevere, and even then, it's because she has all the power in the story. And on that note, I think that she feigned anger to test his loyalty, which is basically what she's doing throughout the entire second half of the story. Think about it wouldn't you want to know your man would stick by you during your worst moments. He could've said, "Um....you're kind of being a bitch, but that's okay....I'm outta here. Lancelot, out!" But he didn't. And I think that says a lot about his character. Don't get me wrong...I'm not a huge fan of Guinevere. But I can attempt to try to understand her actions.
ReplyDeleteAs we talked about this in class, you're absolutely right. Guinevere is a psycho. She doesn't know what she wants, nor does she even know how to act! Like, i mean. Come on. Was she really fussing about the hesitation, even though she said it was a "jist?" She only acts this way because of the power she holds. Even as a captive, she's being treated with such royalty and honor. She didn't really give a crap about her husband either. Why can't she just be happy with whatever she gets! whatever. She's annoying. Men can be just as bad as women, agreeing with what you said.
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