Malory: King Arthur, the Queen, and Launcelot

The beginning of the section "Le Morte D'Arthur" is extremely interesting in light of what we talked about in class on Thursday. We had discussed the possibilities of whether Arthur knew about Sir Launcelot and the Queen's affair, and if so, what actions he was likely to take. The section seems to match up well with what we had discussed. First off, the reader finds out that Arthur did in fact recognize what was happening between Launcelot and the Queen, but basically kept these facts to himself in order to prevent scandal and the queen's death. He knew that if he acknowledged the affair, he would have to lose both the Queen and Launcelot, something he did not wish to do. He says when he is first confronted with the affair: "'I suppose that to uphold my own dignity as king I must now suffer my queen to be burnt at the stake.'" (478). Clearly, he is reluctant to do so, and realizes that if no one else had discovered the relationship and it hadn't been brought to his attention, the court may have been able to go on being successful for much longer. But, similarly to what we discussed in class, Arthur also places the separation of the knights that will result from the discovery much higher than the loss of the Queen. He says,"'I regret the less the loss of my queen, for of queens I had my choice, than of our fellowship, which was surely without equal in all Christendom. Alas! that Sir Aggravayne and Sir Modred, led by the evil in their hearts, should have brought us to this.'" (480). Meanwhile, Sir Launcelot's character is also experiencing a wide range of emotions in this last section. Launcelot  had been consistently un-guilty (or so he seemed) about his affair with the Queen throughout many of the sections. In fact, he often seemed to be himself convinced that "nothing happened" when he went to her chamber at knight. But towards the end, Launcelot's guilt catches up to him. He says before he decides to die: "'I fully understood for the first time how I had betrayed them and brought each to his death through my selfish love and pride'" Launcelot (506).