Character Analysis
Lancelot. Dude's such a great knight that the mere mention of his name causes the much younger Lavaine to feel “instant reverence” (“Lancelot and Elaine,” 463). “Little need to speak / of Lancelot in his glory!” the narrator tells us, concluding rather bluntly, “whom he smote, he overthrew” (“Lancelot and Elaine,” 461, 463). And it gets even more impressive: despite his prowess, Lancelot remains humble, telling Lavaine that “in me there dwells / No greatness, save it be some far-off touch / Of greatness to know well I am not great” (“Lancelot and Elaine," 447-450).
Shmoopers, is there anything wrong with this guy?
Lusty Lance
Well, to put it quite simply: yes. Lancelot hides a terrible secret: he's truly-madly-deeply in love with Queen Guinevere, which not only makes him guilty of adultery, but unfaithful to his oath of allegiance to her husband, Arthur.
Awkward.
Despite Lancelot’s realization that Guinevere is not worthy of his love, he just can't help himself. He even refuses the love of one who seems made for him—the pure, devoted Elaine—because of his misguided devotion to the queen. To make matters worse, he really beats himself up about it. His sin makes him feel unworthy of his name and he wishes that his mother had drowned him at birth. He even goes so far as to undertake the Grail Quest hoping that this sin, which he describes as choking everything noble and knightly in him, can be plucked out at the root like a carrot or beet.
Artie and Lance: The Dynamic Duo
Arthur describes Lancelot as his “right arm” (“Guinevere,” 426). Lancelot’s the guy Arthur leaves in charge when he has to be away on business. Which could be good or bad. Lancelot’s very fallibility and humanity makes him more attractive to Guinevere than Arthur. In contrast to Arthur’s unearthly white purity (“Lancelot and Elaine," 133), Lancelot has a “touch of earth.”
In his last confrontation with Arthur, Lancelot refuses to raise his hand against him. Arthur describes this as final evidence of his “courtesy,” or courtly behavior—yet another trait that has marked Lancelot throughout his life. Lancelot’s desire for courtly perfection is at war with his love for Guinevere.
It’s like a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other, and whoever wins that battle will determine the fate of the Round Table.