King Arthur Kinship Analysis
Family: a trusting force and an anchor during rough waters. Family is important because it is a binding that chains members together. It is a support network in which every individual can trust one another, which in order to protect this support network, members will do anything to their ability to protect. Therefore, because of this drive to protect, kinship leads to irrational actions and behaviors that ultimately decides one’s destiny. This irrationality can be seen with Parzival and his mother , Queen Herzeloyde because Parzival’s mother had kept him ignorant throughout his childhood as her way of shielding him. This is also exemplified between Gawain and King Arthur where because King Arthur’s love for Gawain, all his actions are well-decided
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Due to this strong family bond, every move King Arthur made revolved around the desires of Gawain because of the trust he placed in him as his nephew. For example, he had followed the words of Sir Gawain of filling in the empty spots of the Round Table with random knights (134). This is significant in that him filling in the Round Table with insignificant knights indicates his downfall as a king because he no longer had powerful, renowned knights in his court. Additionally, Gawain had advised King Arthur, “if you made peace with Lancelot, you would be shamed and your line abased, so you would never again have honour” (136). By stating that making peace with Lancelot would cause the King to “never again have honour,” Gawain twists the perception of Lancelot’s character in the mind of King Arthur. This distortion of thinking Gawain exerts on the King leads to the King to want to destroy want of the best knights he had ever known. Considering how the King listens to the words of Gawain, he essentially acts as the puppet of Gawain, indicating his downfall as a King because a king should make their own decisions. It is this continuous desire to please his own nephew, to avenge his brother, that causes him to make irrational decisions overall such as deciding to give up his kingdom, literally “the keys of all his treasures,” to Mordred while he himself enters battle (156). The act of allowing someone else to substitute as a king indicates a
Due to this strong family bond, every move King Arthur made revolved around the desires of Gawain because of the trust he placed in him as his nephew. For example, he had followed the words of Sir Gawain of filling in the empty spots of the Round Table with random knights (134). This is significant in that him filling in the Round Table with insignificant knights indicates his downfall as a king because he no longer had powerful, renowned knights in his court. Additionally, Gawain had advised King Arthur, “if you made peace with Lancelot, you would be shamed and your line abased, so you would never again have honour” (136). By stating that making peace with Lancelot would cause the King to “never again have honour,” Gawain twists the perception of Lancelot’s character in the mind of King Arthur. This distortion of thinking Gawain exerts on the King leads to the King to want to destroy want of the best knights he had ever known. Considering how the King listens to the words of Gawain, he essentially acts as the puppet of Gawain, indicating his downfall as a King because a king should make their own decisions. It is this continuous desire to please his own nephew, to avenge his brother, that causes him to make irrational decisions overall such as deciding to give up his kingdom, literally “the keys of all his treasures,” to Mordred while he himself enters battle (156). The act of allowing someone else to substitute as a king indicates a