Story Analysis: Sir Lancelot Du Lake

Synthesis Essay: Lancelot The legend of Lancelot is a story with numerous versions written over the course of many years and writing eras. Each form of the legend has notable differences compared to its other forms. The differences in what is emphasized in each version may be because the author wanted to tweak the legend, because of the time period it was written in, or simply to write a different version. Each version of Lancelot is different because of the time period in which it was written, and because of the authors’ changes to the legend. Two versions of the legend of Lancelot that include differences compared to one another are “Sir Lancelot Du Lake” (Pre 1600) by Thomas Deloney and King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table (Post …show more content…
“Sir Lancelot Du Lake” does not mention the affair at all. The affair may not be mentioned because of the time period this version was written in. During the Renaissance period, “there was the sincerely held belief that humanity was making progress towards a noble summit of perfect existence” (Rahn). The affair and adultery that Lancelot and Guinevere were committing is not progress towards perfect existence, so Deloney decided not to include that detail in this version of the legend. King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table mentions the relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere, but it does specify what “evil” is committed when “the first shadow of a great evil crept into Logres, so silently and so innocent that no one observed it, nor did either Lancelot or Guinevere dream whether …show more content…
Tarquin is the knight that Lancelot meets when he goes into the forest in “Sir Lancelot Du Lake.” After they speak, Tarquin tells Lancelot that he hates a knight. Lancelot asks who the knight he hates is and Tarquin replies, "His name is Lancelot du Lake, / He slew my brother deere; / Him I suspect of all the rest:/ I would I had him here" (Deloney, Lines 94-97). Tarquin is not mentioned in King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table. During the time King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table was written, “as the postwar economic boom was taking hold, students in universities were beginning to question the rampant materialism of their society” (Rahn). The reason Tarquin may not be mentioned in this version of the legend of Lancelot is because the idea of hatred may not have been an acceptable thing to write about during The Beat