While the suitor knight and Meleagant are portrayed as arrogant antagonists, Chretien notably qualifies those portrayals, as both characters exhibit characteristics of worthy knights. Before beginning the episode of the suitor knight and his father, Chretien begins by clarifying that “the customs and practices at this time were such that…if [a lady] were being escorted by another [knight], and [a] knight chose to do battle with her defender and defeated him at arms, then he might do with her as he pleased without incurring dishonor or disgrace” (Chretien, 223). So when the suitor knight approaches Lancelot and the lady who tested him through staging a rape (a very bizarre earlier episode) with the aim of winning the lady, he is not doing anything
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Furthermore, Chretien is not ambiguous as to whether the suitor knight does truly love the lady; the knight approaches them “rapidly” and “at full gallop…because he was confident of success and considered himself quite fortunate to see the one he most loved” and he greets the lady “with words that came from his heart” (226). Of course, that love does not negate his arrogance, as he then tries to lead her away with him and dismisses her escort’s skills, wholeheartedly believing that he will be victorious. His recklessness is nevertheless a character flaw that stems from the chivalric virtue of bravery. Were he not “plac[ing] too much faith in [his] own prowess” (Chretien, 229), the suitor knight’s response to being told he should not fight – “May anyone who’d take your advice and abandon the field without a brave fight be damned!” (Chretien, 229) – would very likely be applauded. However, the suitor knight refuses to balance his bravery with wisdom, so it has become …show more content…
Chretien states that Meleagant is “handsome and bold” (251) and “had he not been treasonous and disloyal, one could not have found a finer knight” (248). Meleagant’s avowal that “if he [Lancelot] is seeking his honor, so do I seek mine; if he is seeking his renown, so do I seek mine; if he is eager for battle, I am a hundred times more so” (250) affirms that all of his elaborate scheming has been to prove his skills. (He is mistaken in thinking that Lancelot too has come to prove his honor, when he has instead come to prove his love, but he would not have known that.) Like the suitor knight, who became “all the more fiercely determnied” when his father tried to dissaude him from fighting Lancelot (229), Meleagant refuses to release Guinevere without a fight: “If you and all your men offer him safe conduct, what do I care? None of this causes me to lose heart” (248). Nevertheless, his method of proving himself by kidnapping the queen and fighting her rescuer is morally reprehensible, and he proves himself dishonorable during his battles with Lancelot, as he repeatedly attempts to strike Lancelot even after Lancelot has stopped fighting him. It is evident that Meleagant desperately wants there to be no doubt “that [he] has the better of him [Lancelot]” (254) and takes his humilation
Furthermore, Chretien is not ambiguous as to whether the suitor knight does truly love the lady; the knight approaches them “rapidly” and “at full gallop…because he was confident of success and considered himself quite fortunate to see the one he most loved” and he greets the lady “with words that came from his heart” (226). Of course, that love does not negate his arrogance, as he then tries to lead her away with him and dismisses her escort’s skills, wholeheartedly believing that he will be victorious. His recklessness is nevertheless a character flaw that stems from the chivalric virtue of bravery. Were he not “plac[ing] too much faith in [his] own prowess” (Chretien, 229), the suitor knight’s response to being told he should not fight – “May anyone who’d take your advice and abandon the field without a brave fight be damned!” (Chretien, 229) – would very likely be applauded. However, the suitor knight refuses to balance his bravery with wisdom, so it has become …show more content…
Chretien states that Meleagant is “handsome and bold” (251) and “had he not been treasonous and disloyal, one could not have found a finer knight” (248). Meleagant’s avowal that “if he [Lancelot] is seeking his honor, so do I seek mine; if he is seeking his renown, so do I seek mine; if he is eager for battle, I am a hundred times more so” (250) affirms that all of his elaborate scheming has been to prove his skills. (He is mistaken in thinking that Lancelot too has come to prove his honor, when he has instead come to prove his love, but he would not have known that.) Like the suitor knight, who became “all the more fiercely determnied” when his father tried to dissaude him from fighting Lancelot (229), Meleagant refuses to release Guinevere without a fight: “If you and all your men offer him safe conduct, what do I care? None of this causes me to lose heart” (248). Nevertheless, his method of proving himself by kidnapping the queen and fighting her rescuer is morally reprehensible, and he proves himself dishonorable during his battles with Lancelot, as he repeatedly attempts to strike Lancelot even after Lancelot has stopped fighting him. It is evident that Meleagant desperately wants there to be no doubt “that [he] has the better of him [Lancelot]” (254) and takes his humilation