The portrayal of a legend can be manipulated over time to create a story more interesting for its audience. Specifically, the Arthurian legend of Lancelot shows major theme changes over time, as Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur and Lord Alfred Tennyson’s painting of Lancelot tell two different tales of the great knight. The medieval legend of Lancelot presents a character who is considered the greatest knight in the world, but over time has developed into a character full of scandal and adultery. Lancelot’s major character flaw has become emphasized to make him a more realistic character that audiences can relate to, while also feeding the Victorian intrigue in scandal over greatness. Lancelot’s reputation as a perfect knight has been altered
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The manner in which Malory talks about and describes Lancelot shows that he believed his readers wanted a story about the greatest knight in the world. Lancelot more often than not is simply described as just that, the greatest knight in the world. His superior physicality and battle conquests testify to his description as the greatest knight in the world. Malory’s audience wants to see a perfect knight, so he gives them the greatest one he can by claiming that “the prowess and manhood of Sir Launcelot were more than wonder to tell” (141). Malory creates an image of Lancelot that words cannot describe. By putting no limit on how great Lancelot’s manly body and skills are, Malory allows his readers to picture Lancelot as great as possible. Lancelot’s appearance means nothing if he cannot use it to be great in battle, so Malory gives his audience the greatness they want by seeing Lancelot consistently come out of incredibly difficult battles victorious. Lancelot demonstrates his elite combat skills by fighting two giants, and after watching Lancelot slay the first giant the second one is so scared that “he ran away as he were wood, for fear of the horrible strokes” (167). Having battle skills great enough to scare off a giant is the type of irrational greatness Malory believes his readers are interested in. Lancelot’s indescribable ability is proven through his seemingly impossible battle victories. The conquering of two giants by Lancelot gives Malory’s audience the absolute greatness they want to see. Malory does not give the same attention to Lancelot’s affair because it does not add to his greatness. Even though Lancelot’s affair may not get much love from Malory and his medieval audience, Tennyson’s painting of Lancelot draws much more attention to Lancelot’s scandalous side.
The manner in which Malory talks about and describes Lancelot shows that he believed his readers wanted a story about the greatest knight in the world. Lancelot more often than not is simply described as just that, the greatest knight in the world. His superior physicality and battle conquests testify to his description as the greatest knight in the world. Malory’s audience wants to see a perfect knight, so he gives them the greatest one he can by claiming that “the prowess and manhood of Sir Launcelot were more than wonder to tell” (141). Malory creates an image of Lancelot that words cannot describe. By putting no limit on how great Lancelot’s manly body and skills are, Malory allows his readers to picture Lancelot as great as possible. Lancelot’s appearance means nothing if he cannot use it to be great in battle, so Malory gives his audience the greatness they want by seeing Lancelot consistently come out of incredibly difficult battles victorious. Lancelot demonstrates his elite combat skills by fighting two giants, and after watching Lancelot slay the first giant the second one is so scared that “he ran away as he were wood, for fear of the horrible strokes” (167). Having battle skills great enough to scare off a giant is the type of irrational greatness Malory believes his readers are interested in. Lancelot’s indescribable ability is proven through his seemingly impossible battle victories. The conquering of two giants by Lancelot gives Malory’s audience the absolute greatness they want to see. Malory does not give the same attention to Lancelot’s affair because it does not add to his greatness. Even though Lancelot’s affair may not get much love from Malory and his medieval audience, Tennyson’s painting of Lancelot draws much more attention to Lancelot’s scandalous side.