Following the first prompt for the final project, I am going to do a literary analysis of how Lancelot is portrayed in Chrétien’s The Knight with the Cart compared to Malory’s Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere. Beginning with the different titles for these similar tales, it is clear that the authors have different opinions of Lancelot as a knight. Lancelot is widely known in the world of King Arthur as one of the greatest knights, however, he is also known for his affair with Queen Guinevere. I am going to examine how these opposing identities make a very human character in the world of magical occurrences. In Chrétien’s earlier version of the story, he focuses on courtly love and does not attend to the fact that Lancelot is betraying Arthur. That is his way of ignoring the situation so that Lancelot can still be the greatest knight. Malory also favors Lancelot’s positive attributes as a knight but brings to light his sins throughout the story. Cole and Scala’s essays will help me find argue the complexities in Malory’s depiction of Lancelot go beyond whether he is good or evil. Raabe’s argument about the paradox of courtly love is also helpful to show that the standards Lancelot is trying to live up to are not reasonable. Lancelot stands out in medieval literature because of his contradictions when he is supposed to be a perfect knight. In truth, he is a more human character than most as he tries to appeal to love and to loyalty, but is unable to find the balance.

I have been exploring this idea, but feel that I need a narrower focus so I am open to suggestions/comments!