What good is love if it kills you? In Lancelot: or the Knight of the Cart, Lancelot embarks on a quest in which his knighthood is put to the ultimate test in order to save his lover Guinevere. Even though she is married to King Author, who was accidentally tricked into giving her away to Meleagant as a prisoner of war. It appears as though Lancelot is the only one who can save her, which he does. Some argue this love triangle was created as a celebration of love, because to be so in love with someone that you are willing to die for them is a truly beautiful act of commitment, that is the kind of love everyone should strive for a love that defies all reasoning and logic (even though that didn’t get Romeo and Juliet very far). Is this Lancelot the perfect combination of a lover and knight? It will be argued that the exact opposite is true, in turn for loving Guinevere Lancelot perfect knightdom is stripped from him. This is seen though all of the extensive tasks he must perform in order to save her. Lancelots love for Guinevere makes him a much worse knight and deprives him of all sensibility. How can this be a celebration of love when his love for Guinevere only hinders him? This love causes him to break all chivalric codes one by one.
