In Morte Darther by Sir Thomas Malory, upon hearing of Lancelot and Guinevere’s treason, King Arther’s first reaction is not one of anger or hate towards his disloyal subjects, but rather on of genuine sorrow. He has been betrayed by those he considered his closest companions and friends and this has much more of a dangerous effect on the stability of a kingdom. Upon hearing of the deceit, he cries:
“Alas, that ever I bore a crown upon my head! For I have lost the fairest fellowship of Knights that ever held Christian king together” (Malory 542-546).
In any prosperous kingdom with a monarchy, the people are the glue of the successful reign of any king; especially those people he holds dearest and trusts most closely. When that glue fails in its purpose of holding the king and his relations together, the whole kingdom falls apart. This is what Lancelot and Guinevere’s choices did to the kingdom of Camelot. A kingdom that was already on shaky grounds due to dissection already at work through men such as Agravain and Mordred. These betrayals were the first dominos in the chain that would send a king to his grave and Camelot crumbling to the ground (Malory).
It is notable that Guinevere’s adultery was not the first instance in which her loyalty was questioned. In an early tale of King Arthur and his Knights, Guinevere is caused of a crime of passion involving a visiting Lord (Lexton). She is only acquitted of the crime because the noble Lancelot agreed to a duel for her in an attempt to defend her and prove her innocence. Instead of a trial, it was accepted that combat could be used in place of actually judicial proceedings. This ability of the Knights to duel in place of the judicial process of the time was a way of undermining the legal systems of the day and a way to prove a knight’s strength. Therefore, it was more the show of strength from those in Arther’s court representing the judicial system that was able to save Guinevere from her impending fate of dying by fire in execution (Kennedy).
The effects of treason in a society so dependent upon trust and loyalty can be irreparably destructive. As explained by one Arthurian historian and author:
“Because treason works to undermine the bonds holding social order together through a destabilization of trust between lord and retainer, it prompts questions regarding the dependability of the feudal oath of loyalty”
(Laing 3-4).
Laing poses an important point that in a time when kings stood to rule all, they were reduced to nothing once the people lost their faith in their leader; for it was the people who actually supplied the power. Knowing this, kings did all in their power to be either feared or loved. If one of those two facades were to slip, so would the grip of control the king had over the land. More closely related to the case of Lancelot and Guinevere, Laing has much insight on this matter. Laing points out, “…betrayal is frequently tied to the hero’s pursuit of love. Treachery by a trusted companion forces a separation of the two lovers, creating a tension that can only be resolved when the treason is exposed, the perpetrator punished, and the lovers reunited” (Laing 5). The betrayal was never able to be resolved by these means, seeing as the treason had indirect relations to the death of Arthur. As the lovers could not be reunited, the kingdom fell and the age of Camelot ceased; making way for the new era of kings and queens to repeat history and fail to learn from the mistakes that cost the greatest kingdom in the world to fall.
Bibliography
Kennedy, Beverly. “Adultery in Malory’s ‘Le Morte D’Arthur.’” Arthuriana, vol. 7, no. 4, 1997, pp. 63–91. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27869288.
Laing, Gregory L. (2009) “Treason and Betrayal in the Middle English Romances of Sir Gawain,” The Hilltop Review: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 3.
Lexton, Ruth. “Reading the Adulterous/Treasonous Queen in Early Modern England: Malory’s Guinevere and Anne Boleyn”. Exemplaria, 2015. p 222-241.
Malory, Thomas, and John Rhys. Le Morte D’arthur: Printed by William Caxton, 1485. London: Dent, 1906.“Morte Darther Manuscript .” Digitised Manuscripts, www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Add_MS_59678.