Future King

The Meanings Behind The Once and Future King The famous tale of King Arthur was widely known as one of the most iconic stories ever told, and set a standard for modern storytelling. Since the original iteration, there have been many adaptations of King Arthur where authors have created new and unique elements of their own in an attempt to enliven the original story. An example of one such novel is titled The Once and Future King by T.H. White which features several interesting and insightful themes that leave readers with a new perspective on life. One important theme is that people should not be judged purely based on how they look, as demonstrated by Lancelot’s portrayal in the book. Another theme is that violence can not be justified …show more content…
One’s appearance does not define who that person really is. In order to reveal this theme to readers, White made a bold decision and transformed Sir Lancelot, an extremely attractive and handsome man in most Arthurian stories, into an ugly, ill-made knight. The author describes him, “...as ugly as a monster’s in the King’s menagerie. He looked like an African ape,” (White 317). This gives the reader a detailed impression of just how atrocious he looked by comparing him to a monster and an ape. Although Lancelot was immensely hideous, Guenever was still passionately infatuated by his charm. She looked past his image on the outside and fell in love with the gentleman on the inside. After they developed mutual romantic feelings for one another, Guenever realized that looks do not everything and that the abomination that is Lancelot’s face was not reflected in his heart. Similar to Guenever, Elaine of Corbin also became very fond of Lancelot for liberating her from a tower where she was cursed to be perpetually boiled in hot water. Elaine’s deep affection for the knight sprouted from his heroic rescue which she was extremely grateful for. Lancelot’s repulsive semblance had no effect on what she thought of him. Instead of viewing Lancelot as a freak, Elaine put that aspect aside and loved him for who he was and what he had done for her. Unfortunately, the knight did not share the same romantic feelings about her as he did for Guenever, yet Elaine loved him so much that she tricked him into sleeping with her so she could bear his only child, Galahad. Even though Sir Lancelot is horribly grotesque, that did not stop him from becoming the greatest knight to ever walk the Earth. Lancelot was highly acclaimed by many for his courage as well