So I was really confused about
Guinevere’s behavior. When she first heard about Lancelot’s arrival and his
fight, she asked the king to place her somewhere that allowed her to see everything.
But the only thing she did while there was tell her maid his name and then tell
him to stop (which lead to him being attacked again and she didn’t even care
that it was her fault that he didn’t defend himself).
And
when she finally sees Lancelot, all beaten up from his trip over the sword
bridge and his fight with Meleagant, she just brushes him off and says that he
cannot please her.
And then she further insults him by saying that everything
he did was worthless because she would only leave if Gawain came and got her. I
mean, Lancelot just defeated the king’s son and is basically falling all over
himself to please you and you’re just like “nope, go home”. Really?
We don’t actually see any sign of her caring
for him until after she hears that he died, had a full-on melt-down, claimed
that everything she said was in jest and that he should have known that. So
does that mean that they are close enough that they should know those kinds of
things about each other? Because Lancelot implied earlier that he hadn’t really
had her in any way, so they couldn’t be lovers before now, and Lancelot didn’t
even have a clue about what she was thinking, so they couldn’t have been very
good friends.
It got
even more confusing when she later told Lancelot that she rejected him because
he hesitated for two steps before entering the cart. But when she was repenting
before she said it was just a joke, so which is it?
But hey, I guess it doesn’t really matter since they
made up and had sex in the end.
I totally agree with you when it comes to Guinevere's behavior - I thought it was erratic and somewhat contradictory as well, not to mention somewhat harsh? What I don't understand still, even if we (somewhat?) discussed it in class, is what people were supposed to like about Guinevere. Did the noble ladies who read this find her appealing? We talked a lot about what made Lancelot appealing to the readers, but what did they see in Guinevere?
ReplyDeleteI, too, can all too much relate to your confusion on understanding their actions. However, gave up trying to understand way anyone did the things that they did a quarter of the way through the story. Honestly, did the person who made up this tale, think of any logic to what the characters did?
ReplyDeleteI strongly dislike Guinevere. She is the reason men think women are all crazy. Yes, she is crazy but I for sure know how to make up my mind. Lancelot is a great guy, and she just doesn't acknowledge it until later. SO many people are like that today. Ignoring the "good" guys. It irritates me!
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