Guinevere Character Analysis

The character of Guinevere constantly evolves, all the way from the beginning of the creation of Arthurian Legend up to the modern day adaptions. Each author is influenced by the time period, in which they add new qualities to Guinevere. Chretien de Troyes created a Guinevere who is erratic, duplicitous, and manipulative. Alfred Lord Tennyson created a Guinevere who is unable to live up to her husbands’ expectations, and she is ultimately blamed for the destruction of Camelot and Arthur. Alice Troughton and Jeremy Webb created a Guinevere who was loved, independent, and empowering, as well as a humble and nurturing queen. Throughout each author’s adaptation of Guinevere we are given a look into what expectations women had in each text. I want to focus on the impact that Guinevere has had on women on, and why her changes throughout the Arthurian text are so influential and different from each other. It is very interesting that every author built upon the foundations that the prior created for Guinevere, which means that Guinevere’s character is eternally intertwined with Arthur and Lancelot
Chretien de Troyes’s Arthurian romances introduced us to the character of Guinevere. Chretien’s main focus,
In The Idylls of the King, Tennyson was highly influenced by 19th century Victorian Medievalism which is where everyone served their king, and emotion is brought back for men and allowed. Tennyson focused a lot on holding Arthur up on a pedestal and he casted a bad light on Guinevere. Doing so allows the readers to believe that Guinevere was the cause of all the pain and suffering that Arthur endured. Women in the 19th century, reading this, will believe that they are supposed to dislike her and that women are the downfall of men, which is not true. Tennyson focuses on turning Guinevere into a tragic character who is the “poison” for