And Lancelot knelt down and took the king’s beloved hand in both of his and kissed it. “Good night, my liege lord, my liege frie
nd,” he said, and then stumbled blindly from the room and felt his way down the curving stone steps past the arrow slits. As he came to the level of the next landing, Guinevere issued silently from a darkened entrance. He could see her in the thin light from the arrow slit. She took his arm and led him to her dark chamber and closed the oaken door. “A strange thing happened,” she said softly. Source: Steinbeck, John. The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights. New York: Penguin, 2009. Google Books. Web. 7 July 2011. Which idea is addressed in the passage above? family and seasons betrayal and hatred confusion and anger friendship and love Mark this and return
In John Steinbeck's 'The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights", he details the story of Lancelot, King Arthur and Lady Guinevere. The complicated relationship and the conflict of loyalty for Lancelot dominates the plot of the passage.
Sir Lancelot is a knight in King Arthur's court, and had just returned from a successful conquest. A feast had been prepared in his honor and was treated as someone worthy and respectable. But Lancelot does not see himself deserving of these. He is conflicted between his loyalty for the King his master and his love for the Queen. The king and queen may have been stuck in a loveless marriage, and thus the Queen's search for love in Lancelot but Lancelot also feels that the King had done nothing wrong to him to deserve being betrayed by his trusted friend. He has no idea of the love between his wife and friend but Lancelot still feels himself stuck in between the two choices. The passage provided n the question is addressing the issue of the conflicting ideas of friendship and love in Lancelot.
